Between Two Worlds
by Saya Tsukihime
Summary: Being reborn in a fictional series is not all fun and games. Especially if you don't even notice it until the world comes to an end and you get captured. Now that I had been given a rare second chance at life, I didn't want to get my life sucked out of me, I didn't want to die in this prison. I would survive and see my friends again – that was the promise I made to myself. Grey!OC
1. Nothing Is Like It Used To Be

**Disclaimer** : I don't own Owari no Seraph, its plot or characters, or any other mentioned books, songs, or series. They belong to their respective owners. I only own my OCs and the plot that deviates from canon or doesn't exist in canon. This is a non-profit fan fiction just for fun.

 **Characters:** OC, Shinya H., Mikaela H., Crowley E., Makoto N.. Sooner or later most of the other canon characters will appear, too. I've also named some unnamed canon characters... Maybe you'll spot them.

 **Pairing:** For me to know and you to find out ;)

 **Genre:** Adventure, Friendship, Mystery, Angst, Supernatural, Romance, Humour, Drama, Hurt/Comfort, Action, Horror

 **Rating** : T for now. I will probably change the rating to M in later chapters or put up warnings for certain chapters.

 **Warnings** : The usual warnings of the series apply. Mild Language. Violence. Mentions of abuse, self-harm, torture, death, and gore later on. Some sexual content _might_ occur in the later chapters (I'm not sure yet). And obviously blood. A lot of blood.

A few OCs will appear at the beginning to build this story up, and this fic will be mostly pre-canon but slowly transitions into canon with some changes here and there. Physical rules of the ONS- Universe will be as canon and accurate as possible, and so will be the relationships of the canon characters. This fic will be mostly OC-centric, but there will be some other POVs, too.

Remember that because of the whole reincarnation-thing going on my OC might seem OP at first, but I've tried my best to make her a realistic character with strengths, weaknesses and quirks.

This fic will be somewhat epic in length and there will be a lot of worldbuilding, so if you want to immerse yourself in the world of ONS, you've come to the right place! This story will contain things from the light novels, manga _and_ anime, and there will also be some minor spoilers for the manga chapters (from ch48 onwards) and the light novels. You have been warned ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°). If you're not put off by any of this, then, by all means, please continue reading!

 **A/N:** This is an English writing exercise and hobby for me. I have been in love with the Owari no Seraph series ever since I've watched the first episode, and somehow I came up with this idea for a story while reading the manga and light novels.

I'm nervous (๑•́ ω •̀๑). I'm open for constructive criticism, but... please don't kill me.

Okay... enough of my rambling. I hope you enjoy my first fan fiction and give it a chance! - **Saya Tsukihime**

 **Last edited on 16.09.2019. I adjusted some things to make the chapter a little easier to read.  
**

* * *

 **Chapter 1** **– Nothing Is Like It Used To Be**

 _I had never really thought about my own death or what would come after it._ If _something would come after it. But who really does? There was no point in it because no one who is alive has the answers to the question humans have been wondering and warring about ever since their dawn of existence._

 _You simply live day by day, learning, working, surrounding yourself with family and friends, doing what you like to do. That was what truly mattered, and not thinking about your impending demise because it was inevitable. One day everyone would die. That was what I thought the first time around_ – _think about life not death._

 _My perspective changed in my next life. After receiving my second chance, I learned that it was indeed a blessing not to know when you would draw your final breath, or you would always live in fear of that day. Despair about that day when you would lose everyone and everything, and make decisions you wouldn't have made otherwise... Just like I did._

* * *

The moist autumn air left my mouth in white puffs while I was walking through my favourite forest, and the fallen, reddish brown leaves crunched under my boots. It was a beautiful but cold day and I had to wear gloves to keep my hands from freezing over. Frost covered the ground and the air smelled fresh and musty. There was no one else here yet – it was quiet and still early, shortly after sun rise.

I wasn't really a morning person, even less one who did some morning exercise, but today I'd just felt like getting up early and taking a stroll through the forest. Forests were my all time favourite places because of the tranquillity, serenity, and air of pureness they provided. They were like an escape from hectic everyday life, some kind of safe haven. I was happy and was enjoying the walk, not thinking over much as I took in the impressions of the wood, simply relishing the nature that surrounded me.

But then, in the next moment, I heard someone murmuring my name right next to my ear. It was hardly more than a faint whisper in the wind, but it gave me goosebumps, a sense of foreboding.

Suddenly, there was a sharp pain inside my head, much worse than my frequent headaches, that drowned every other thought out, and without struggling or suffering for long I died just like that. Not because of an accident, but because of a brain aneurysm that had never been detected.

Pretty anticlimactic, huh? There was nothing spectacular about the way I died. I couldn't even feel how my body hit the ground. Faintly, I felt sorry for the person who would discover my body.

The next thing I knew, I found myself in a seemingly dark world. It looked as if I was floating in space. Twinkling stars that gave off a strong white light were all around me but they were too far away to reach. And right above me, floating high in the air, was a giant golden ball of light. I didn't know how I could have missed it at first. Perhaps it was because it didn't seem to emit any heat and its glow didn't reach me.

Now, as I looked at my surroundings more closely, I noticed that the world around me wasn't pure blackness. It gave of a reddish luminescence here and there in a way that reminded me of the northern lights. The reddish light seemed to connect the stars like pathways.

And right underneath me was impenetrable darkness without any lights. An abyss. This whole... world was breathtakingly beautiful but eerie at the same time. Was this the World of Death? Or was this some kind of Heaven or Hell? Some space in between? Limbo?

My ears perceived ethereal whispers, otherworldly music, and weird noises of something fluttering through the darkness, but I never saw anything concrete. I could only make out that there was some motion in the darkness around me, which seriously creeped me out, just like this whole place. I still couldn't completely comprehend what had happened.

Was I really dead? The thought was so absurd.

It was cold here but not the unpleasant kind of cold; it was somehow soothing, like a breeze on a hot summer day. All in all, this place was really creepy but serene at the same time.

Despite the ability to feel the temperature in this place, I didn't have a tangible body. Was I a ghost, a soul, or an accumulation of memories and emotions? Would I be stuck here in this state and world forever?

Just when I'd asked myself this question, there was another whisper, a voice I could finally understand. It was the one that had called my name just now.

...Had it been just now? It was hard to tell how much time had passed in this world.

"Come. I will guide you to the next world..."

Another world? Was there really something like that? Was reincarnation a thing? Or did it mean that there was something like Heaven or Hell, or the Pure Land?

I wanted to protest, say that I didn't want to go and wanted to stay in my world and continue my life, but I couldn't talk.

However, the same someone or something answered me sadly, "You can't return. You can only go forward."

Whatever had spoken to me led me through the darkness despite my protests. While I was pissed about being shoved around like that and having no choice in the matter, the unknown being made me feel protected and at ease.

I couldn't see the being, that had appeared at my side, clearly, because it was shining too brightly in a silvery-white light, but I was able to discern a humanoid form and two pairs of wings. The being of light, or was it an Angel of Death, pulled me towards a certain direction without touching me, as if it was moving me with its mind.

The light or star it was leading me to became brighter and brighter as we approached it.

For an immeasurable amount of time I flew through that plane until I finally reached an end. The star was in fact not a star but a round, gigantic, shining white crystalline door, that opened on its own accord or at an unnoticed sign of the angel.

Radiant light engulfed me and I was snatched out of the dark world.

* * *

I was still blinded and cold when I became aware that I wasn't in the World of Death anymore. But it was a different kind of cold than in that world, somehow more physical, and there was the feeling of someone holding me. For a moment I thought about those fan fictions where a person gets reborn in another universe, but there was no way something like that could really happen for real, right?

Yes way. As soon as my eyes had adjusted to the brightness, and I was able to take a look around as well as hear the voices of people around me, I realized that I had indeed been reborn as an infant with all of my memories from my past life and the World of Death intact.

The Angel of Death had botched up my reincarnation.

* * *

Let me tell you, being a baby and being aware of it was _not_ fun, it was disgusting (I hated being unable to go to the toilet and shitting myself), disturbing (breastfeeding was something I luckily didn't remember from my past life, this time was enough for all other lifetimes to come) and mind-bogglingly boring (I hated laying around and doing nothing but sleeping).

Fortunately, time passed relatively fast because I was sleeping more often than not, purposely so, and soon my first birthday took place. Apparently, I was born on October, 15th 1999, more than five years later than my last birthday, the 17th of April in the year 1994.

I was at a loss. Not only had I been reborn on the same day I had died but also at a time where I had already been alive once. Needless to say, I was confused. Maybe I had really been reborn on the same planet but just in a different time? Was that how it worked? But the angelic being had told me that I would go to the next world and that I couldn't return to my own...

I had questions over questions that nobody could answer.

Everything in this world seemed normal and exactly like my past one until now at least. There were no ninja jumping around or any other extraordinary supernatural things for that matter. It was the same plain old world I had always known.

Was that a good thing or a bad thing? Maybe it was a little boring, but it was better than being reborn in a dangerous world, right? I didn't want to die again for a long time.

* * *

Apparently, I lived with my new parents in Kyōto, Japan. It was hard to accept them as that at first, but I could see how much they cared for me. It didn't take them long to earn a place in my heart though I couldn't see them as anything but new relatives for a long time.

Despite living in Japan, we were not entirely Japanese. Well, the person I assumed to be my father was, but my mother wasn't. The one who called herself my Mum was a stylish woman with long, blond hair, that was styled in a perfect up-do most of the time. It was something I'd never managed to do, so I eyed her hair with envy. I couldn't do much more than observe my surroundings and baby talk at the moment anyway.

'Mum' had sea-blue eyes and looked really fashionable in her business attire and skirts. You could rarely see her in jogging pants or shirts, as if she abhorred comfortable clothing, which mystified and worried me. Which sane person didn't like jogging pants?

'Mum' seemed to be a real workaholic and made me want to say, 'Girl, you should relax once in a while'. She also put more effort into her everyday-appearance than I ever had, which made me reconsider my own style from the past. Perhaps I should put in some more effort this time, too, and not only when I was on a night out.

Well, that could wait for more than a decade. Maybe I felt like it then.

My 'Dad' was a little taller than my 'Mum', was clearly of Asian descent and had black hair and friendly, dark brown eyes. Unlike 'Mum' who spoke in a completely alien language that I didn't recognize, he spoke to me in Japanese, which I recognized from my previous life. I knew a few words and phrases because I had read manga and had watched a lot of anime in my free time, but that was as far as my knowledge of the Japanese language went.

Once I was over the first months of my infancy, I didn't see either of them as often as before anymore. It looked like they were really busy with their work.

Of course, I had to get workaholics as parents again, lucky me. Not that my parents in my previous life had been bad – I really did love them – but it could become rather lonely at times if they were away and you were alone at home most of the time. I didn't have any siblings in the past. So far it looked like I didn't have siblings in this life either.

A nanny they called 'Yoriko-san' was my constant companion whenever my parents weren't around. She was a nice old lady that fed me and kept me occupied when I was feeling bored and demanded her attention. Just like 'Dad' Yoriko-san was always talking to me in Japanese.

From this I'd gathered that I was somehow reborn in Japan though it took me a little longer to find out we lived in Kyōto, which was honestly kind of cool... minus the dying part of course.

Because of the language barrier it also took me some time to realize that Yoriko-san was actually my paternal grandmother. I felt like an idiot once I discovered that.

* * *

Sooner or later I discovered that my new parents were called Irina and Hayate Kido and were of different descent as I had suspected. Apparently, Irina was originally from Russia and Hayate a native from Kyōto. I was really interested in our family history after discovering that.

It also explained why I had no idea what Irina was saying to me when she wasn't pointing it out. I didn't know a thing about Russian, so it sounded like gibberish to me, but she was determined to teach it to me whenever she had time. As if learning Japanese from scratch wasn't hard enough already. Bilingual babies didn't get enough credit – this was hard. Well, at least I had something to occupy my time with now.

Much later I found out that my parents had met each other in Japan while they were studying at the same university and had bonded over the same interests. They were working here at some kind of multinational business firm now, something that had to do with cars and other technology.

Interesting, but not the kind of job I would go for. My own interests were of a completely different kind.

* * *

Learning Japanese and Russian at once was mentally exhausting but it helped that I knew which language to associate with which person, so I didn't mix them up _too_ much. I hoped. However, learning languages and new vocabulary without being able to write them down was really difficult and so were these two particular languages themselves.

They were of a completely different language family than English, German and Latin, the languages I knew from my past life. I was fortunate that my brain had the impressive learning capacity of a toddler and I had nothing better to do than to learn the languages. They were my new bane of existence but also my most interesting task apart from potty training.

Over the years, through hard work and constant, frustrating practise my language and motoric skills got better and better, making me able to move and vocalize myself again. I could tell that my parents had been a bit concerned that I was a rather quiet baby because I only cried when there was something bothering me like hunger, or if I needed a new diaper.

However, what they heard from Yoriko-obaasan about my learning curve made my new family really proud of me. I couldn't helpt that they thought I was a child genius because I had no idea how slow or fast a normal baby or toddler developed certain skills. And I didn't bother to hold back in any regard because I was too frustrated with being a toddler and couldn't learn to be indepent fast enough again. So, screw discretion.

Irina and Hayate often brought me presents to make up for the lost time with me. I appreciated the gesture and the feelings behind them even if it made me feel like an entitled little shit. I would have preferred to spend more time with them – my new family – to get to know them better, but they were very dedicated to their jobs. They tried to be around me as much as possible, though.

But no one was perfect and they were new at this parenting-thing, so I could understand that they struggled. Thankfully, I had Yoriko-baa, so I never felt too lonely, even without a sibling.

I still had flashbacks of the life I had left behind once in a while, that made me depressed for a few minutes, but it wasn't as bad as at the beginning anymore where I would cry or shut down. Still, I was constantly worried for my Dad of my previous life who was all alone now... I hoped he was alright – as far as he could be considering the circumstances.

I should have never ignored the warning signs and let myself be checked by a doctor. Now it was too late for regrets.

Like the angel (or whatever it had been) had said, I could only move forward, no matter how painful it was. Slowly, I accepted my death and new life. Dealt with everything like I had learned to do it after my Mum's death in my previous life. There wasn't anything else I could do.

Life went on.

* * *

In the year I turned five years old I began to attend an elementary school, which wasn't something I looked forward to because as an adult in mind I already knew most of the things they would teach us there. I had started writing and reading Kana and Kanji and the Cyrillic alphabet more than a year ago, too, because I had nothing better to do, so I was much more advanced than normal children my physical age.

Even in my past I'd been a more or less good student. The exceptions were my mathematics and physics courses. Numbers and abstract formulas were not my cup of tea. Also, I was horrible at drawing things, which worked in my favour this early in my new life. To my shame my drawings looked actually like a real child's. It was one less thing to worry about.

Instead, language courses and music lessons had been my strong points in the past because I was good at memorizing things. This proved to be true in this life as well.

* * *

A hobby I enjoyed doing this time around again was playing the piano. Of course I did – I'd tried to major in music in my past life to become a pianist and music teacher. At first I wanted to do something with languages but had changed my mind.

Hayate... _Dad_ was overjoyed when he found me playing a melody of my own on his old piano in the living room one day once I was able to reach the seat. After that incident, Hayate got me a music teacher.

I didn't really need him to teach me for obvious reasons, but Ikeda-san taught me new pieces that didn't exist in my old world. On that note, I suspected that I was in a parallel world that was almost identical to my old one. I recognized many pieces, but there were a lot of classics I had never heard of.

Irina, Hayate and Yoriko-baa enjoyed listening to me play and I was glad to be able to make music again, even if everyone was under the impression now that I was some kind of (musical) genius, which I really wasn't. I had talent for playing the piano ever since my past life, yes, but most of it was acquired through hard work and constant practise. I wasn't the second coming of Mozart, but my parents didn't know about my past life, so they and everyone else I interacted with thought I was a child genius.

I could live with that though I hoped my ego wouldn't get overblown this time from all the praise I got. It almost made me feel bad and as if I was cheating my way through this new life because I remembered my past one... Silly, I know, but sometimes I felt like invisible fingers were pointing at me.

That angel was to blame for forgetting to erase my memories. Not that I was complaining. I wouldn't want to forget my previous life, even if it would have made things easier.

Another instrument I began to practise this time was the transverse flute, simply because it was different than playing the piano and it didn't make me feel like I was somehow cheating. I'd always wanted to try it anyway. It was something entirely new that I enjoyed learning though I didn't like it as much as the piano.

I still didn't want to play a violin again even though it had been the first instrument I had learned to play in my past life, even before the piano.

* * *

As a result of my 'prodigious tendencies', that were just a by-product from my retained memories of my past life, my parents gave me free reign to try out whatever else I wanted to do. Not that they would have allowed me less if I was just a normal child.

After I had 'coincidentally' watched a documentation about kendō on TV, I knew what I wished to learn. Learning a language or playing an instrument were indoor hobbies that required much time sitting, so I thought some physical training as a compensation and for a change of scenery wouldn't hurt.

Also, I lived in Japan this time around, and I would be a fool if I didn't use this opportunity to learn kendō and some martial arts, karate to be precise. Pretty stereotype, I know, but it was something that I had always wanted to try in my past but just never got around to do it.

I mean, who wouldn't in my place? Being able to do some kendō or martial arts was really cool if you asked me. And now I had the time and opportunity for it, so why not.

Back then in my past life, I'd also been prone to back problems because of my indoor hobbies, and exercising this time around would help with that, even more so when I was doing it from a young age and kept at it. I specifically chose kendō and karate because I was such a big anime and manga fan – a reason why I was ecstatic to be reborn in Japan of all places.

I had a penchant for samurai. My inner otaku couldn't be happier. You always had to look at the bright side of life.

* * *

In her free time Irina liked to clothe both of us with a dress, braid my hair, or go shopping with me, almost as if to compensate for my lack of 'girly hobbies' or interests. I guessed all mothers wanted to do these kind of things with their daughters once in a while, so I indulged her and had a lot of fun with her. I preferred to wear pants in my past life but also liked to wear more girly outfits like skirts and dresses from time to time. Irina knew what she was doing so I wasn't too worried about embarrassing childhood photos.

I had to confess that I also liked being fussed over by her and Hayate. Due to their work, I only got to see them in the evenings and they often had to travel between countries or cities.

I acted a bit mature for my physical age but not overly so; I tried to enjoy my childhood as long as it lasted because I knew the adult life would arrive quickly and it wasn't always fun.

* * *

At school I was unsurprisingly placed two grades higher than my age group after I had taken the end test of the first grade and the second one, and had received a perfect result in all subjects. It wasn't hard to achieve for someone who had the memories of a former twenty-four-year-old woman.

If I wanted to, I could have skipped elementary school entirely. Everyone in my place with half a brain could have done it. Seriously, elementary school was no challenge for an adult.

My parents wanted to let me take the tests for the other grades and considered letting me skip elementary school entirely, too, but they relented when I told them that I wanted to find friends close to my age, physically of course.

I was already sticking out enough and didn't want to live the life of a child prodigy... not more than I already was. Going to university under the age of eighteen wasn't something I was particularly eager for. I had had a real child prodigy in my school class in my past life and the poor kid had never fit in. I refused to be the same so being physically younger than my peers for more than three years was a no-go. Even if it was doubtful that I would fit in anyway.

So I had to sit through a few more years of elementary school.

* * *

It was really, really weird to be the physically youngest in class and at the same time being mentally the oldest with exception of the teachers. Also, I was the only somewhat foreign looking child in class because of my mixed heritage, so I was even more noticeable despite my efforts to fit in.

It was kind of awkward. I had been okay at interacting with kids in my past life because I had given private piano lessons to teens and adults as a part-time job but as a kid interacting with other kids... I was kind of bad at it.

"Hey, why do you have such a weird hair colour, Kido?" a boy who was missing a few teeth asked me during lunchtime. He and a few others had gathered around my desk.

"It's genetic." For some reason I had blond hair like Irina and shared her complexion, too. The dark brown eyes were entirely the same as Hayate's but even without looking at the hair one could tell that I was not completely Japanese, but a Half. Needless to say, I looked a little different than the typical Japanese person. Unfortunately, that also made me stick out more.

"And you may call me by my first name 'Vivian', if you want," I replied politely, too stiffly. Ah yes, my mother had insisted on a Western first name for me, so that didn't help with fitting in either. I cringed internally. I was a hopeless case, wasn't I?

All in all, I somehow looked slightly similar to how I had looked in my past life – I even had blond hair again – just with a more Asian touch, which was another weird occurrence. Maybe that was part of being reborn in a parallel world? The same soul requires a similar body or something like that? Were there physical laws to rebirth?

"Hey Kenta, what's 'generutic'?" another boy whispered to the one who had talked to me.

"Th-that... I don't know! The weirdo uses strange words!"

"Um... sorry, I didn't want to confuse you. 'Genetic' means that I was born with it," I tried to ease the situation but failed spectacularly because of my nervousness and because I had no idea how to properly interact with kids on the same level.

"Don't act all high and mighty just because you're younger than us and know a few complicated words, weirdo! Let's go, guys." He left with the others. Whoops? That didn't work like planned. I didn't want to come across as arrogant... even if I honestly was a little arrogant. It was just that I was around adults or teens who were much older than me most of the time, which is why I was used to talking more formally than a normal child would.

"Don't mind Kenta, he is always a little hot-headed," told me a girl with a pink ribbon in her hair, that sat also next to me. "I'm Emi and I really like your hair! Nice to meet you... uh...?"

I smiled at her. "Thank you, Emi-chan. I think your ribbon is very cute. I'm Kido Vivian, but you can call me 'Vivi' if you want."

The girl smiled brightly at the compliment and my introduction. "Thanks! My Kaa-chan got it for me as a present! Do you want to play outside with me and the others, Vivi-chan?"

"Sure."

"Then let's go!"

* * *

That was how I made my first friend in this new world and life. I had met other kids at the playground before or even at the martial arts dojo I was attending now but had never really befriended them because I was a little socially awkward and didn't know how to act as a child among children. Plus, talking to younger kids and befriending them was different than befriending an adult.

At first it was hard to learn kendō and even karate because I had never done something similar before, but sooner or later I got the hang out of it and began to advance with a lot of practise and determination. Once I had set my mind on doing something, I would always give it my all – I was a tenacious person and I didn't like losing, not even against children.

Unfortunately, because of that disposition, the teacher at the dojo had to place me in an older and more advanced age group soon, too, because I advanced too quickly to stay with the beginners. The other children my physical age were naturally nowhere as focused as me. Not many older children or teens liked it that someone who was younger than them was in the same courses as them, so that didn't help to endear myself to anyone there either.

Sometimes I felt somewhat bad and conflicted for'cheating' my way through this new life with my memories and abilities from my past life mostly intact, like some kind of overpowered character from a series, but I couldn't just get rid of all that knowledge inside my head or entirely hide who I was, nor did I want to. Even if it would have made things easier for me...

I felt kind of lonely.

* * *

Two years at school passed faster than I thought and then the spring holidays came again. Over the years I had been able to befriend some of the other children at school with some effort. Kenta had accepted me as his 'rival' when I beat him in a wrestling match. Kind of unconventional and the first time that I did something like that, but oddly enough it worked.

I never had a rival before, but I admit it was kind of fun to compete against someone and giving your best even if your opponent was a child. Kenta always tried to beat me at sports and the other subjects too, but lost more often than not. Still, he never lost his determination. It was really cute and I respected the kid for that even if he could be obnoxious at times.

All in all, the two years at school had been enjoyable even if the lectures were incredibly boring (though I read novels or manga during class to pass the time), and I got in trouble a few times because I fell asleep in class or got caught reading.

But like always, the fun had to end at some point in time. It happened when I came home from the last day of school in my second year, before the spring break. My parents were both at home, which was rather unusual at this time. I slid out of my shoes and made my way into the living room.

"Hey, Mum and Dad. You're home early. Is today a special occasion?" I greeted them and sat down with them at the table.

"That's right, Vivi-chan. We have to tell you something," Dad began and exchanged a glance with mum.

"We are really sorry that it is so sudden because we know that you've made friends at school... but we have to move," Mum broke the news with an apologetic expression on her face.

"What?! Move? Where? Why? Why so sudden?" I was finally starting to fit in... somewhat... and didn't want to move anywhere. I liked it here in Kyōto. Liked Yoriko-baa who was always there for me, liked Ikeda-san my music teacher. The city was exciting, the kids were friendly and I had lots of fun here.

"Your mother and I were transferred to a firm branch in Tōkyō. Our firm fused with another one there and we're going to be the ones to oversee it. The fusion was rather unexpected for us, too. I'm sorry, Vivi-chan."

I could understand their reasons and that they couldn't do anything if they had to work somewhere else; but still. Tears of sadness swelled up inside my eyes, the emotions of a child were hard to suppress even with an adult mind.

I snuggled up to them and let the tears stream down my face. "I don't want to leave my friends..." I whispered between small sobs. I had already lost the friends from my past life, that had supported me during tough times and vice versa. I didn't want to lose them again, even if they were children. It had been really hard to make some friends.

"We know. You can still write or phone your friends and visit them during the holidays. Maybe we'll come back in a few years. It's not like you'll never see them again, Vivi," Mum comforted me. I knew that she was right, but that didn't make it any easier.

Resigned, I nodded in acceptance. Once again, there wasn't anything else I could do.

* * *

Three days later, after a tearful goodbye with Emi, Kenta, and some of the other kids who had become my friends, we moved to Tōkyō. Our new apartment was in a newly built complex and had to cost quite a lot of money. Not that our old one in Kyōto had been bad in any way, but the air surrounding this one was... different. We weren't super rich, but we weren't bad off either because of the well-paying but time-consuming jobs my parents had.

I spent the spring break adjusting to the new environment and my new caretaker, Sawako-san, who was a lot stricter than Yoriko-baa. She didn't let me wander out of her sight.

When I went to a nearby park with my bokken to train by myself because I wasn't enrolled at a new dojo yet, Sawako-san followed me like a guard dog and her eyes almost never left my form. Well, I couldn't blame her for that – I was only a seven year old child in her eyes.

As I was going through my stances with my wooden sword, I got the distinct feeling that I was being watched by someone else than her. I tried to look around discreetly to catch my watcher. I thought that maybe a pervert had been watching me, but I didn't suspect that a child who was barely a few years older than me would turn out to be my secret spectator.

It was a boy with outstanding white hair who donned a school uniform. Everything else was too hard to make out as he was sitting up in a tree a few meters away. I had no idea if he had been there before I had started practising, or if he had gotten there sometime during my training, unnoticed by me.

Pretending not to see him, I continued to practise my sword techniques for a few more minutes until I decided to take a break and talk to him. I walked to the tree he was sitting on and looked up at him. He seemed surprised that I had noticed him in between the thick leafage of the tree.

"Hi there! I hope I didn't interrupt your... tree climbing? Do you want to join me and eat something? My caretaker has packed some lunches for a small picnic," I proposed. Over the past years I had become better at interacting with children and wasn't as socially awkward anymore.

He smiled at me. For some reason it didn't reach his eyes. They somehow looked... hollow. The expression didn't belong on a child.

"Ahaha, it seems that I've been noticed. I saw you practising and didn't want to interrupt you." The boy jumped down the tree without much effort and stood in front of me.

His medium length, snow-white hair and blue eyes indicated that he was most likely a foreigner too, but his Japanese had no foreign accent – like mine – so he must have grown up here as well. And his features looked Asian – perhaps he was a Half of mixed heritage, like me?

He was a really cute kid. Weirdly enough, I had the distinct feeling that I knew him from somewhere, but I couldn't put my finger on it. Maybe he just reminded me of a character from an anime.

"You're very skilled already. If I may ask, how old are you?" the taller boy inquired politely.

Usually, I wouldn't tell someone I had just met anything about me, but he was just a child a few years older than me.

"I'm seven, going on eight, and you? Do you know anything about kendō?" He had to be at least familiar with it if he knew something about it.

"Wow, you're really young to be practising kendō already!" The boy sounded impressed. "I'm ten. I practice kenjutsu, too. That's why I know a bit about it."

"Hmm, do you want to have a talk about kendō while eating a sandwich with strawberry jam? If you have time, that is."

The boy considered my invitation for a moment. "Alright, but I can't stay for long..."

In response, I took his hand and steered him towards Sawako-san. "That's okay. I'm glad to meet someone with similar interests." Sawako-san took out the sandwiches from the picnic basket, and I sat down next the white-haired boy. Which reminded me...

"Ah, I didn't introduce myself. My name is Kido Vivian," I told him with a smile.

"Nice to meet you, Vivi... -chan?" he asked if he could call me that and I nodded in response. "I'm... Shinya."

"Oh, nice to meet you, too, Shinya. Don't you want to tell me your last name?" He was old enough to introduce himself with a last name, and because he was so polite and mature it struck me as odd that he didn't do so. Shinya avoided my gaze.

"I... well... I'm not supposed to..." he fidgeted. Not supposed to tell your name to a little girl? Maybe his parents had instructed him not to give his last name to strangers?

"Okay, I don't mind. Should I just call you Shinya or Shinya-nii?"

A happy smile spread over his face at my proposition. "I would like to be called... Nii-chan."

"Shinya-nii it is then! Do you like your sandwich? It's my favourite kind." Talking about food with kids was always a hit.

He looked down at the one in his hands; he had taken a few bites out of it. "Yeah, it's delicious. Thank you for sharing with me, Vivi-chan."

"No problem! Food tastes the best when you eat it together with someone else after all," I told him seriously. This time his smile was honest and reached his eyes.

We ate together in comfortable silence.

"Do you live around here, too, Vivi-chan?"

"Uh-huh. My parents and I just moved here from Kyōto. I'm going to attend a new school when the new semester starts."

"Ah, I suspected that you were from the Kansai region because of your funny dialect."

"Hey! My Kansai dialect isn't funny, it's _sophisticated,_ " I huffed. Most people in Kyōto spoke it so it was no wonder that I was speaking it, too. Plus, my father _was_ originally from Kyōto.

Shinya lifted one brow, perhaps because of my usage of a more advanced word but grinned in amusement. "Sorry. Are you going to attend a school of the Order of Imperial Demons?" he asked me, sounding somehow hopeful.

And wow, what a weird name for a school... and somehow familiar. Did I hear it somewhere before? Or did the school just draw inspiration from a manga or anime I had watched before? This was Japan, so it could be possible, right?

"The what of the what?" I shook my head and grinned at him. "No, it's a normal school with a less exotic name."

"Ahaha, is that so... Then I hope you'll make many new friends at your school." Shinya seemed a bit disappointed and somehow saddened as he mentioned friends though he smiled again.

"Yeah, I hope so, too... But at least I've already made one friend here!" I declared with enthusiasm.

"Oh, that's good..." Why did the boy look so sad at the mention of friends? Perhaps he didn't have any? I could understand that issue really well now. He seemed really nice and kind but also somehow... depressed and insecure even though he hid it well. There was something about him that made me want to cheer him up.

"It's you, you dummy," I told him with a huge smile and placed one arm around his shoulders in a friendly gesture. "So, there's no reason to look so gloomy, Shinya-nii. You're my new kenjutsu buddy!" One of the perks of being a child: declaring someone your friend after just meeting them for the first time. It was much easier than making friends as an adult.

His eyes widened in surprise, but this time a genuine smile spread over his face and his cheeks turned to a light pinkish hue.

"Say... about kenjutsu..."

* * *

I hit it off with Shinya and we became good friends over the course of the next three years. We were able to meet once or twice a week and sometimes had friendly spars with our bamboo swords or in hand to hand combat, which he knew, too, much to my surprise. Or we just talked about everything and anything and played games.

It astounded and worried me that he didn't know any at first, but that was quickly rectified.

All in all, I really liked Shinya. He was a brilliant kid with a fun and light-hearted attitude despite his maturity. He often went over to my house (my parents had taken a shine to him) but I never visited his place. He rarely talked about his own family, or that he had been adopted, so I left out that subject most of the time.

Surprisingly, he won against me _all_ the time in our 'sword fights', which was incredibly frustrating but also... refreshing. It made me want to improve myself and incited my competitiveness. Shinya was incredible and I told him so though I scolded him when he began to hold back to let me win a few times. Was it out of pity or just to be nice?

Anyway, sooner or later I just couldn't take it anymore to be constantly bested by a kid even if Shinya was almost three years older physically and had been training for longer than me. I brought out a newly bought console game and chose a character. I had played this particular game as a child in my past live, too, so I was pretty good at it. This could definitely be considered cheating, but... well. Even with an adult mind I wasn't above petty feelings. I was already cheating my way through this new life, so what was one more cheat in a game?

"Let's try out this game, Shinya-nii," I proposed with a devilish grin.

Shinya watched me but agreed with his own light-hearted grin. "Okay." This poor summer child...

It didn't even take me a minute to beat his avatar to a pulp.

"Wow, you're good at this, Vivi-chan," Shinya complimented me. "This is the first time that I've lost against you... and the second time that I've lost a match at all..." He appeared in thoughts as he said the last part but then smiled at me.

"Hn," I stuck up my nose and grinned. "You're always welcome to try again."

Although Shinya quickly good better at it – I had expected nothing else from my friend – he still was unable to beat me.

"..." Shinya furrowed his brows, frowning slightly.

"Getting frustrated, huh?" I gloated.

Shinya smiled again but there was a slight edge to it. "Ahaha... No, not at all." Despite his determination to win against me, he didn't manage to do so. I couldn't hold in an evil laugh.

When both our stomaches began to growl, I decided that it was time for a break even though Shinya didn't want to stop yet until he had defeated me. I went into the kitchen to make some tea and something to eat. I pulled out some fresh bread, butter, and strawberry jam and made Shinya and me a sandwich. It was something like a tradition between us. Once the tea was done, I took everything with me and placed it on the table.

"I'm not really hungry..." he objected weakly, but a second later I heard his stomach rumble again.

I threw him a daring glance as I shoved the plate with the sandwich into his hands. He had once indirectly told me that his family wasn't specifically treating him well and he sometimes had to go hungry to bed. It was more a slip of the tongue and Shinya didn't tell me more about it when I asked, but I couldn't forget it. Ever since then I made always sure that Shinya ate something here before he had to return home.

"Eat, and then you can have your rematch," I told him in a no-nonsense tone. I was surprised that it actually worked. I didn't think that a physically nine year old could make a twelve year old obey.

Once again the idea that my friend was being mistreated at home worried me. "Shinya-nii... you know that if you're not getting treated well at home, that you can always come to me and tell me about it, right? And that I'm always willing to help you?"

Shinya smiled at me. "You're already helping me enough by being my friend, Vivi-chan."

"...That was sappy."

"Ahaha~. But that doesn't make it any less true." There was a mischievous twinkle in his blue eyes.

"Trying to butter me up with sweet words, huh? That doesn't make me forget the issue, you know."

Shinya's smile waned and he sighed. "I... I've told you that I can't tell you more yet, Vivi-chan. But I will someday... I promise. It's just... safer for both of us this way if I don't tell you more about me or my family. Can you please trust me until then and remain silent about it?"

I didn't want to comply with his request because it felt like I would look away when a kid – a friend – needed help.

"Are you sure you don't want me to sic the police on those people? It feels like I'm abandoning you everyt time I let you go back to them, Shinya-nii. It's not right that they mistreat you."

He nodded. "Right now even the police wouldn't be able to touch them, but... I'm going to change that. I'll overthrow them someday. It will take a few years though. But I won't give up."

That response puzzled me. Was he part of some yakuza family or a family that was involved in illegal activities or... in politics... if the police wouldn't be able to help? He saw that I was still reluctant to comply with his request.

"Please trust me, Vivi-chan."

I sighed in response while I had an internal conflict. "I don't really want to. It's not right, but I know that you're an intelligent kid... so I'll trust you, Shinya-nii, and won't say anything... for now. BUT if you ever need a safe place, help, or someone to talk to, please don't hesitate to come to me. You're always welcome here, okay?" I embraced him and he brought his arms around me. "Nobody has the right to mistreat you."

"Okay... thank you for being my friend, Vivi-chan." Shinya held me a little tighter. My heart melted for my friend.

"It's alright, Shinya-nii. I'm glad that I met you, too. Now, drink your tea and relax for a while longer."

"...You still owe me a rematch~," he pointed out. It seemed like Shinya wasn't ready to give up yet.

* * *

Once again, I didn't really fit in at my new school at first, but over time I was able to make a few friends I could hang out with. Akira, a rather shy boy from a different class who was interested in classical music and could play the violin, too, was the first one I befriended at the new school.

When I helped him out to fight off some bullies who were jealous of his good grades, Kaori, a tomboyish girl, saw what was happening and joined in to help Akira and me. All of us were scolded by the school headmaster afterwards and got detention, but that helped to get to know each other.

Kaori promptly became my new best girl friend with the words "That was a nice kick in the butt!", to which I replied, "Your punch to the solar plexus was admirable." It was also helpful that she went to the same dojo I went to although I was two classes above her. We had seen each other there in passing before, but I hadn't noticed it until we met and talked at school.

Soon, we became known as the 'Odd Trio' at our school, Akira was the brain and Kaori the brawn because she was good at any type of sports, and I was the weird prodigy who spoke in Kansai dialect and sometimes seemed too mature for my age, knowing things nobody else knew. We had an awesome time together.

* * *

Something I realized during those ten years of life here was that this world was somehow slightly different than my old one. For example, some shows, books, and artists that had existed in my old life didn't seem to existhere but some did.

I was rather surprised when I found out that there was no Dragon Balls. I was devastated once I found out that there was no Lord of the Rings.

Otherwise, everything seemed to be pretty much the same, even history. And wasn't it puzzling that there were people that existed in both worlds? It made me wonder if my family and friends from my past life existed here, too. Naturally, I was curious and sent E-Mails and messages to the E-mail addresses and phone numbers I remembered, but it appeared that they didn't exist here. I didn't know if I was disappointed or relieved about it.

The nine-eleven attack occurred, some wars broke out, and songs and films I knew from my past life came out. Too bad that I didn't remember any lottery numbers from the past or I could have tried my luck with that.

I resolved to invest in some stocks which I knew would succeed in a few years when I was old enough for it. Getting reborn had to have some perks, right? Not everything I knew was the same, but it wasn't too different either. It was really odd and I sometimes had the feeling of déjà vu in this parallel world, but was unable to discern why.

* * *

"What do you think about one family ruling many others for generations?" Shinya asked me out of nowhere over his steaming cup of green tea. I was ten at that point while he was thirteen. We often talked about more adult subjects than children our age usually would, and I was really grateful about it.

I could be completely myself around him. While I didn't purely act like a normal child my physical age because I was a 'prodigy', I still had to 'dumb' myself down from time to time to avoid creeping out a lot of people. I didn't always succeed. Plus, I hated being on the receiving end of baby talk.

"Like a... royal family? Like it was in Great Britain or in Japan with the Tennō?"

"Yes, like that."

I thought over his question. "Well, to be honest, I think that it's utter nonsense."

Shinya was clearly interested in my opinion. "Why do you think that?" he inquired.

"The morals and abilities of a person should always be more important than their descent. Therefore I think it's idiotic when one family rules others just because it is 'tradition'. A right to rule shouldn't be inherited but earned. Let the most capable person rule," I elaborated my view on the point while sipping on my tea.

"I'm always baffled when such mature things leave your mouth. Are you sure you are only ten, Vivi-chan?" Shinya teased me. He already knew that I was considered a child prodigy. God, how I began to hate that term. However, Shinya was a _true_ prodigy. I shrugged my shoulders in response.

"I have an old soul. But you're pretty mature yourself," I half-joked. "Can you tell me the reason why you suddenly wanted to hear my personal view on such matters?" I asked him.

Would he finally act against his family, that had put him through bad treatment and experiences? Experiences which he still hadn't told me about. I didn't pressure him into talking about them and was resolved to wait until he was ready to tell me what had happened to him.

"Well, you know that I'm adopted and that my family is pretty traditional and strict. I just wanted to hear your opinion. Ah, by the way, what do you think about arranged marriages, Vivi-chan?"

Today Shinya seemed to be rather troubled by something. Over the years he would ask for my opinion on things that shouldn't concern a kid his age – like his purpose in life or things like that. Sometimes his questions were really depressing, but I always tried to cheer him up.

I sighed. "Once again, something like that is pure idiocy in my eyes. You only live for a certain period of time and should be able to marry whoever you want because in the end things like prestige, money, religion, and status won't matter. Everyone dies as you are born, you didn't bring anything into this world, and you won't leave it with those things either. Everything is evanescent, Shinya, especially companies and superficial relationships that aim to gain something. The only thing that should matter in your life is that you are happy with it so you won't have any regrets when you die. That's why you should marry out of love and not out of obligation. It's _your_ life and no one else's."

He stared at me for a moment, taken aback by the point of view of a western adult that had left my mouth before he grinned. "I once made fun of someone who thought the same. But now I've begun to wonder whether she was right all along..." Shinya told me while looking deep in thought.

"I'm absolutely certain that you will be able to change your family, Shinya-nii," I encouraged him, guessing why these questions had come up. A small smile spread over his face.

"I'm glad that you believe in me..." he trailed off, "Say, can you play a few pieces on the piano for me again? I love listening to your play," Shinya requested.

"Of course." I sat down at the piano and started playing the Moonlight Sonata before I played one of my own songs – both were some of Shinya's favourites.

Shinya stayed for longer than usual with a rather thoughtful expression on his face, still mulling over our conversation.

"Is everything alright?" I asked Shinya after a while.

"Yeah, of course," he replied in his usual light-hearted way, but I could always tell when his smile was fake.

"If you need someone to talk to again, you know where to find me, Shinya-nii," I reminded him.

"You're really cute when you're worried, Vivi-chan."

I rolled my eyes. "I mean it. Take care of yourself."

He grinned at me. "Thanks, Vivi-chan! I'll see you soon, have a good night." He left the apartment and started walking to the elevator.

"Goodnight, Shinya-nii. Don't get lost on the way home!" I yelled after him.

"Wouldn't dream of it!" Shinya yelled back.

We didn't meet up for quite some time after that conversation, which made me wonder what he was up to.

* * *

"Vivi, do you like Shinya?" my Mum casually asked me one Sunday morning with a mischievous smile on her face. Dad stopped eating breakfast and looked at her with furrowed brows.

"Irina, what are you talking about? Vivi-chan is only ten years old. There is no way that she thinks about boys already," Dad protested and took a sip from his cup of coffee.

"Yes, I like him," I answered with a playful grin that made Mum smile and Dad...

Dad spat out his coffee. "WHAT?! No way! NO! Not my little daughter!" he protested vehemently.

I laughed at his reaction and after a few minutes of his whining, I finally put him out of his misery.

"I like Shinya-nii but not _that way_ , Dad. I'm still too young for romantically liking someone. I like Shinya as a friend, so relax."

"But you two would make such a cute pair, Vivi. Perhaps in a few years..." my Mum commented thoughtfully.

"I kind of doubt that, Mum. His family is rather traditional," I made an excuse. I just couldn't consider a relationship with someone who wasn't an adult yet even though I wasn't physically one either. I would wait and mull oversomething like that when I was older. Anything else screamed paedophile.

"Just consider it, Vivi. Shinya is adorable – you have to make the first move before someone else can snatch him away," Mum said happily. She had come to love the intelligent white-haired boy with the light-hearted attitude.

"Irina! Stop giving our little baby such ideas!"

Mum laughed in response. "Why, darling? Just imagine how cute their babies would look like..."

Dad began to cry. "Irina~."

"I'm just kidding, darling. Don't take everything so seriously. We have ten more years before we become grandparents." I sweat dropped at Mum's words and Dad's reaction and silently left the kitchen... That was enough for me.

Gross, Shinya was a kid and so was I, I couldn't imagine myself being together with anyone at this time.

 _My parents are so weird... but this new life is pretty fun._

* * *

 **A/N: Aaaand you've reached the end of the first chapter! Thank you for reading this far! Opinions?**

I hope you enjoyed it even if not that much has happened... yet. This fic is going to be pretty long so it's kind of a slow burn. I want to built up Vivian's new life and her new relationships with other canon characters a little bit more before shit hits the fan... But it will happen soon. I'm not entirely satisfied with the first four chapters so I'm probably going to edit them a few more times (not enough to change the whole plot, just to fix some smaller things), but I _think_ the following ones are better, so perhaps you'll stick around until then at least.

1) A bokken is a wooden sword that is often used for kendo practice.

2) Kansai Dialect is spoken in the Kansai region in West Japan, which includes Kyōto.


	2. Teen Drama

**Disclaimer** : I don't own Owari no Seraph, its plot or characters, or any other mentioned books, songs, or series. They belong to their respective owners. I only own my OCs and the plot that deviates from canon or doesn't exist in canon. This is a non-profit fan fiction just for fun.

 **A/N:** I want to thank my first reviewer and follower **MCRDanime** and all my dear lurkers who have read the first chapter of _Between Two Worlds_! It made me super happy! I've decided to post another chapter this weekend, but don't expect the next one until next weekend. I still have some more editing to do.

More canon characters will show up in this chapter and some shenanigans will occur. Enjoy!

 **Last edited on 17.01.2020**

* * *

 **Chapter 2** **– Teen Drama  
**

The summer break had just started when I made my way over to a park in Shinjuku. It was a different one than the park I usually went to with Shinya.

To counter the heat I was wearing a light blue T-Shirt, white shorts and sandals while my slightly wavy hair was bound back in a ponytail. I had chosen this park specifically because it had more shady places that would hopefully prevent me from getting a sunburn (although I had applied sunscreen, I was rather prone to it), more freckles, or a heat stroke in this muggy climate.

It was shortly after six in the morning when I arrived at the park with my bokken after going for an hour long jog. I never had been a morning person in my past life and certainly wasn't one in this either, but after a certain time it would be too hot outside to practice properly. The mornings were the only times when the temperature was bearable in summer here in Japan. I had never been a summer person either.

My parents trusted me enough now to go there alone most of the time, but I had to tell them exactly where I went and take my fully charged phone with me wherever I went. Those conditions were rather prudent, and I did as told. I seldom got into any fights with them because of my adult mindset even if I felt incredibly restricted at times. That was how most of our fights started... and whenever I was so bored at school that I did something immature like playing a prank or falling asleep during class.

However, I wasn't the only one who came here to practice – two boys who were about two or three years younger than me were sparing with each other and they both had bokken, like me. A rather rare sight. It gave me a déjà vu of my first meeting with Shinya. Out of curiosity, I opted to watch them for a bit and sat down on a nearby bench.

One of them had long, brown hair that was pulled back into a pony tail. His eyes were dark and I could see that he had a small mole under his right eye. The other boy, who was a bit shorter than him, had dark, medium-length hair, that shone in a weird violet hue. I could discern that his eyes were blue. They looked rather… extraordinary and reminded me of Shinya, not just because of their interest in kenjutsu.

They both were skilled at sword fighting, but the one with brown hair acted rather rash and most of the time didn't block properly. The other boy seemed more cool-headed and focused. Soon, he had the upper hand and defeated the rash one.

"Man, Shū, why do you always beat me?!" he yelled, clearly angry.

I decided to provide him the answer and walked towards them. "It's because your defence is weak and you attack straight on without strategy. You can't beat him just with power," I explained.

They both turned around to me at once.

"That is exactly what I tell him all the time," the shorter one smiled at my statement.

"Huh?! What does a kid like you know about sword fighting?!" the temperamental one exclaimed.

"First of all, you're a kid too, and I think I'm older than you. Second of all, I've been practising kendō and karate for years now." I stopped in front of them and bowed to the quieter one first. "I'm Kido Vivian, ten years old. I'm a first-year student of Akigahara Middle School. It's nice to meet you."

The boy with almost violet hair bowed to me, too, and introduced himself, "My name is Iwasaki Shūsaku. I'm eight years old. I'm in grade two of elementary school. It's nice to meet you, Kido-senpai."

"Huh, how can she be only two years older than us and be already attending middle school?!" the boy with brown hair was sceptic and turned to me. "You're clearly lying to us!" The boy whose name I still didn't know doubted me and pointed an accusing finger to my face – a very impolite gesture in Japan. And anywhere else for that matter.

"Makoto, don't be rude. I'm sure there is a sound explanation for that," Shūsaku appeased him.

"Actually, there is. I attended school earlier than usual and skipped two grades. That's why I'm already in middle school. Also, if you don't mind, you can call me by my first name. I don't care much about formalities."

"Then you can call me by my first name, too, Vivian-senpai." Shūsaku was awfully polite for his age. I concluded that at least Shūsaku was from a more traditional household if he had already received lessons in manners.

"Alright, Shū," I grinned and looked expectantly at… Makoto. He had crossed his arms in front of his chest. Shū elbowed him lightly and glanced at him.

"…Fine! I'll tell her! ...Narumi Makoto, eight years old, second grade of elementary school. Satisfied?" he told me, looking grumpy.

He reminded me of Kenta.

"Nice to meet you, Mako-chan!" I called him in an amused tone.

"D-d-don't call me that!" His temper flared up, tinting his cheeks red, and he lunged at me with his bokken. I easily parried him with my own.

"Alright, then let's have a match to get to know each other, Mako-chan," I proposed good-naturedly.

"Stop calling me that!" He swished his wooden sword at me from the side, I parried it with my own and then stepped quickly around him, attacking him on his left side. The hit connected, but he didn't give up and lunged at me once more. I simply moved out of his way and slapped him lightly on the back. Training with Shinya was a lot harder – he was an excellent swordsman despite his young age. I lost more often than not... or rather... all the time if he didn't let me win.

"Why not? It's cute and suits you, Mako-chan," I teased him but was telling the truth.

"Makoto, you should be careful about your defence," Shū warned him from the side-lines.

"I don't need a defence if I have a good offence!" Makoto denied and tried to sweep at my head. I blocked his sword with mine and slid around his defence. Then I lightly slapped his hand with my bokken from the side, making him let go of his sword, and after taking a last step forward I had my sword pointed at his neck.

"And you lose," I told the boy with a smug grin.

"No way! I lost to a girl?!"

"Huh, what's wrong with losing against a girl, Mako-chan?" I inquired.

"Well, obviously, they're weaker than boys," Makoto stated bluntly. Ah, he was in the typical 'boys are better than girls and vice versa' phase at this age.

"Uh-huh. Says the boy who lost against the girl," was my simple response.

"I'll beat you! Let's have another fight!" He was energetic for sure.

"Alright… but if you lose, you'll have to call me Nee-chan, and I will keep calling you Mako-chan," I said. I had always wanted to be called that. Unfortunately, I was the youngest out of all my friends and classmates.

"No way! I'm not going to call you that!"

"If I lose I will call you 'Makoto-sama' and will admit that boys are better than girls," I baited him.

Was I a bad person for lightly manipulating an eight-year-old to my advantage? Nah... Perhaps? Makoto thought over my proposition and then agreed.

"Okay. Let's do that."

"Do you swear on your honour as warrior?" I asked him.

I saw that Shū was trying to hold in his laugh, he had most likely noticed that I had lured Makoto into a trap. I winked conspiratorially at him.

"Of course. This time I will win!" Makoto took his bokken from the ground and we started the match.

I won even faster this time because I didn't hold back like before and wanted him to experience utter humiliation – it was good for character building at this age. Who was I trying to convince? I just didn't want to lose. I never said that I was a nice person. Makoto slumped down in defeat and hit the ground with his hand.

"Noooooo," he wailed.

"Now you'll have to call me Nee-chan, Mako-chan," I sang and performed a pirouette.

"Shū, save me."

"I'm afraid I can't do that. You gave your word to Vivian-senpai after all." Shū smiled down at him.

"Yes… but…"

"Let this be a reminder that you should think before you speak or act," Shū merely said.

"Shū… you can be really mean sometimes," Makoto whined.

"He's just educating you, Mako-chan. So, cheer up! Isn't that right, Shū?" I chimed in with a big smile on my face. Shū returned it.

"Sure, senpai."

Oh, we would get along just _fine_.

* * *

The rest of the summer went down in a similar fashion. Shū, Mako-chan, and I would meet up in the mornings to compete against each other and play, all the while Shū and I ganged up on Mako-chan – nothing too serious or evil.

I also met Shinya, Akira, and Kaori often. I went swimming with them and I even visited an amusement park together with Akira, Kaori, Shū, and Mako-chan – under the supervision of my and Kaori's parents of course. Sadly, my best friend Shinya was unable to attend because he got busier with some family matters, but I was glad that he still made time for me whenever he could. While I remained unable to beat him in a sword fight, he remained unable to beat me in that video game, which soothed my ego.

Even Kenta and Emi visited me one time in Tōkyō, as we had kept in contact for the last three years – I had visited them during the holidays – and I introduced them to my new friends. One time I was able to invite them all to my place, and we had a film marathon with snacks and popcorn – it was a crazy day but it was a blast.

That summer was the most fun I had in this life.

Unfortunately, Shū and Mako-chan went back home to Nagoya at the end of the summer break. They had stayed with some of Mako-chan's relatives, but they both promised me to write and phone me, and that we would see each other again. I had taken them both to my heart and although Mako-chan didn't like me much at the beginning (or at all), he slowly opened up to me and we became tentative friends... _very_ tentative friends. Makoto and I got into arguments more often than not.

Additionally, it seemed that he started to like my nickname for him because he didn't reject it that violently anymore, and I could see his cheeks redden every time I called him Mako-chan. He never admitted it out loud though.

That little tsundere. Or maybe he had just given up... no, he was too stubborn for that.

* * *

On my eleventh birthday, I received an oval locket from my parents. It was made out of silver and had beautiful ornaments and small diamonds embedded into it. But the best part about it was that it could be opened and inside were two small pictures. The one on the right was a picture of me and my parents together that we had done at a photo studio on their eleventh weeding anniversary on the second of September.

And on the left side was a group picture with all my friends – with Kenta, Emi, Shinya, Akira, Kaori, Shū, Mako-chan and me. We had to be really close next to each other to fit all in. There was even space for two more pictures. I was really touched by the present.

"Thank you, I will cherish it forever," I told them with a happy smile. The only thing I had kept from my past life were memories after all.

* * *

The next time I met Mako-chan and Shū at a skiing resort Shū's uncle owned during the winter break. We made snowmen, went sledging and skiing – I loved skiing in my past life and snow in general. I had lived in an area where you could always go skiing or sledging in winter.

Everyday Mako-chan had a rematch against me but never won – I made sure of that. Much to his frustration and our amusement.

Was it cruel of me? Perhaps. He was just too transparent and had to learn to accept some advice. Shū was a better sword fighter than him because he thought about what steps the enemy would make next and didn't only concentrate on his own attacks.

* * *

Just like that, in the blink of an eye, more than two years passed while I was attending school, living with my parents, meeting my friends, living my second chance at life…

Maybe this time I could fall in love. In my past life I'd had a few light crushes and I had confessed my feelings to two of them, but unfortunately my feelings were never returned.

It wasn't because I was hideous or completely insufferable or something like that – I had a healthy self-image – but my first two crushes already had girlfriends and my last crush in my past life… well, it turned out that he played for the other team and we simply remained friends.

I didn't have a good eye for guys apparently. There had only been those three crushes altogether, nothing really serious or more than a light attraction.

Sure, sometimes a guy would ask me out, too, or vice versa, but either they had a personality that clashed with my own, or we didn't hit off aside from the looks department (some handsome guys were really shallow or 'players' – I wasn't dumb or desperate enough to waste my time on them). And I didn't want to base a relationship on only looks, or to have a boyfriend just to not be single. Maybe I had just had too high expectations, or maybe I had accidentally friendzoned the ideal guy.

Thus, I prioritized my education, job, and friends and remained single until my death at the age of twenty-four. Very unromantic and perhaps a little pathetic in the eyes of some, but I had been happy and that was the most important thing.

I was only beginning to think about love and crushes and all those things again because I was starting puberty. For a second time. Ugh. It had been bad enough the first time. I was not happy when this time around my body started maturing earlier than last time, and I got my period at age twelve and needed to buy bras.

My mother was really enthusiastic about being able to shop with me for bras and the like, I never got why mums enjoyed that.

Because it was an important step in growing up for their baby-girl? If I didn't have my adult mindset, I definitely would have gotten stuck in a teenager crisis when she announced my bra size unintentionally to the other customers in an underwear shop. So, I only was embarrassed about her blunt action and the attention we received and face palmed.

In my past life I had been a late bloomer and luckily started the hormonal stage at the age of sixteen. It seemed that I wouldn't have this kind of luxury this time around.

I also noticed that some of my male classmates, who were all at least three years older than me – the dangerous hormonal age of fifteen – were beginning to eye some of the female classmates in _that_ special way, me included. Not that the girls at this age were any better. Because of my partly foreign roots (Irina was a tall woman), I was also tall for my age and soon, thanks to puberty, nobody could tell that I was a few years younger than my classmates. At least, I finally fit in somewhat.

* * *

In my final year at middle school, the teenager-craze started with a love letter in my shoe locker shortly after the spring break, like I had seen it in anime and manga before.

I stared at it in disbelief and _mild_ panic. "No. No, no, no. This is not happening...!"

Kaori came to my side, worry apparent on her face. "Vivi-chan, what's wrong?"

I pointed at the love letter and made a strangled noise. Kaori's eyes lit up in recognition once she had had taken a look at it.

"Oh wow, Vivi-chan, that's the first love letter you've received! I didn't know that that was still a thing nowadays... How romantic! Even before _I_ got one. Ah~ I'm kind of jealous now. But who wouldn't want an adorable girlfriend with blonde hair and a body with _these_ assets!" She engulfed me in a tight hug... before she groped my breasts.

Yes, some Japanese girl friends did that apparently... or maybe it was just Kaori. It had been quite a culture shock for me. And no, she wasn't attracted to women, she just had a perverted personality streak.

"Kaori! Stop that!" I protested, trying to push her away, and she let go a few seconds later and handed me the letter.

"Read it. I'm dying out of curiosity!" the tomboyish girl was very excited.

I sighed and indulged her. Otherwise it wouldn't be fair to the one who wrote it... and Kaori wouldn't leave me alone.

It was from a Hasegawa Takuma. Didn't someone in our kendō club have that name?

 _Dear Kido-san,_

 _every time I see you during club practice, I can't help but notice how clean you perform your movements. I've been a fan of you for some time now. I would like to ask you something after school today. I'll be waiting on the rooftop._

 _I hope I'll see you soon,_

 _Hasegawa Takuma_

Hmm... Maybe this was a simple misunderstanding and he didn't want to confess his love but just ask for pointers in kendō without letting the others know?

"I think he's from my kendō club. He wants to meet me after school," I told Kaori who started bouncing next to me.

"Kyaaaaa! You're gonna get a boyfriend!"

"Kaori! Shush! Don't just jump to conclusions! Stop that, you're attracting too much attention!" I scolded her when other students began watching us. "And even if it is a love letter, I don't even want a boyfriend right now! I'm only twelve!" I hissed. I had decided a few years ago that I would only start dating when I was sixteen and the person I dated at least eighteen – the legal age. Yes, my body was that of a young teenager, but I couldn't agree to date an underage teenager with my adult mind.

Actually, I doubted that I would date anyone before I was twenty and the other person in their twenties.

I mean, I was mentally thirty-six for crying out loud! Plus I didn't particularly want to be a cougar.

"You're turning thirteen this year, and you already look like fifteen thanks to your mum's genes," Kaori countered.

She was a huge fan of people with blond hair and foreigners in general, which was why she was very... enthusiastic about my family and me. In every otome game she played, she would choose the blond guy. And she played a lot of them. I was fortunate that I wasn't a guy.

"Kaori…" I mumbled her name in exasperation. That's when Akira – my saviour – walked around the corner.

"Good morning, Kaori-chan, Vivi-chan," he greeted both of us in his calm voice.

"Morning, Akira," I replied. ' _Please be the voice of reason, like always!'_ I thought and threw him a desperate look. But he was too fixated on Kaori to notice it.

"Akiraaaaa! We have an emergency!" Kaori pulled him aside and told him about the letter. I put on my slippers and went ahead to the classroom, leaving them behind. I didn't want to hear anything else about that subject.

* * *

After classes were over Akira came over to my desk while I was packing my things. "I hope it's going to go well with the one who wrote you the letter."

"Not you too, Akira," I groaned, but he only smiled in response.

"Sooner or later someone had to fall for you."

Kaori took that as a cue to chime in. "That's right! It was only a matter of time. Only a blind man could ignore you and your boo-"

"- Kaori! Would you please stop exaggerating and talking about that topic!" I interrupted her, blushing furiously. And that was exactly what she wanted – she liked to make me embarrassed. But I wasn't her only victim. Kaori was a teen girl with a bubbly, open-minded, and _slightly_ perverted personality.

Those goddamned otome games had really ruined her. Were was the innocent tomboyish girl with a sense for justice now?

"Fine, fine. I'll stop. But you have to tell me everything about your 'meeting' once you're back home!"

I sighed. "Alright. I'll do that. Now go, before I hit you!" She latched onto Akira's arm, and he was blushing lightly while she was dragging him out of the classroom. I wondered when he would tell her that he had a crush on her.

 _Teenagers_. I was too old for this shit. Or at least I felt too old for it.

"Until later, Vivi-chan! Don't forget to text me!" she yelled.

"Bye, Vivi-chan, see you tomorrow at school!" Akira said goodbye.

"Bye," I replied unenthusiastically.

I was the last one in the classroom. To calm myself down – stupid hormones – I breathed in and out a few times until I was ready to get it over with. Then I took my school bag and climbed up the stairs to the roof, where Hasegawa-kun wanted to meet me.

He was already waiting for me and smiled once he saw me. I recognized him – the guy was really a member of the kendō club. The teen had short, ruffled, black hair that was parted to the right and dark but friendly eyes. He was taller than me and looked rather nice, but he was still too young for me although he was physically older than me.

The wind ruffled through my side swept bangs and open, almost waist long hair, tugging at the skirt of my school uniform so I had to hold it down or I would unintentionally flash my underwear. Why did we have to meet on the roof of all places? That was such a shōjo-anime cliché.

"Kido-san, I'm glad you came," he began.

"Yes, thank you for your letter, Hasegawa-kun. You wanted to talk to me?" I asked him as calmly as I could.

"Ah… yes… it's kind of hard to say, but ever since I joined the kendō club last year… I can't get you out of my head… I-I really like you… and I wanted to ask you if you would… go out with me a-a-and become my girlfriend!" he declared and blushed.

So Kaori had been right with her assumption... Shit. This was beyond awkward.

I waited a few seconds to form my response, being slightly embarrassed about this whole topic, too, and tried to keep the internal cringe off of my face. I felt like a cradle robber.

I felt bad for the teen boy, but I wanted to get out of here as quick as possible.

"...Thank you for confessing your feelings to me, Hasegawa-kun… and thank you for liking me, but I have to decline. I'm not ready for a relationship and boyfriend yet." I didn't consider it for even a second.

I was mentally old enough to be his mother! That was a disgusting thought.

His face fell at my response, but then he smiled again. "Ah… well… I can't even be mad at your refusal… I kind of expected it. But I'm not going to give up that easily! I'll show you that I'm worth it! I'm going to be the best at our kendō club and make you fall in love with me!" He was really optimistic, that was for sure.

If I could sweat-drop like characters did in an anime or manga, I would right now. I thought my refusal had been firm enough, but it didn't seem like that was the case.

"Hasegawa-kun…" I started again, but the overly motivated teenage boy rushed to the rooftop door.

"See you tomorrow at club practice, Kido-san!" he exclaimed and then went back inside.

Dumbfounded, I stood there for a minute. What the heck just happened...? What should I do now? I didn't want to give him any false hope, but somehow my point didn't come across right. Shitty teenage problems.

Exhausted, I went home for today and texted Kaori but mostly ignored her texts that basically all said that I should just go for it, and some more perverted ones with possible date scenarios. I blocked her. Kaori should really stop playing those adult games. I think an intervention of some sort was needed.

I texted Emi for advice on the topic of boys, too, but she was entirely clueless as well.

I decided to ask someone more mature than them for advice. Yes, I was an adult but sometimes the different culture here in Japan still surprised me, and I didn't know everything about this particular topic.

Maybe Shinya could give me a little more insight on how I should go about that matter with Hasegawa-kun. He was a boy of the same age after all. I made plans to meet him on the day after tomorrow, which was a Saturday, so we could also train together again.

* * *

Friday went by fast and club activity was like always, with the exception that Hasegawa-kun came over to me and wanted to have a match. He lost but told me that he wouldn't give up yet. Somehow he had this idea in his head that he could make me fall for him by defeating me in a match.

Where did he get his love advice from?

On Saturday Shinya and I met at the park we usually went to and sat down on a bench to chat.

"So, you wanted to talk to me about something?" he asked.

"Yeah… it's kind of… uh… a romantic problem?" It was kind of embarrassing to ask someone who was mentally many years younger than myself for romantic advice, but I couldn't ask mum and dad for their advice either.

The way they both would react… just no. Just thinking about it made me shudder. For the same reason I didn't ask Kaori.

"Ah, my little Vivi-chan is growing up. You want advice on how to handle your boyfriend… in private?" he teased me with a playful smile while wiggling with his brows in a suggestive way, but somehow it didn't reach his eyes.

I blushed and hit him on his arm for his perverted insinuation.

Somewhere down the road he had started with innuendos like that. I had no idea why. I guessed that he was just at that dreaded naughty and horny age. Sometimes I felt like I was drowning in an ocean of teenager hormones.

"Shinya-nii! Let me rephrase that. A guy from my club confessed to me, and I turned him down unambiguously, but he doesn't want to give up on me even though I clearly told him that I didn't want a relationship right now because I'm not ready for it. What should I do to make him understand this?"

"You're not ready for a relationship yet?" he repeated. "So you wouldn't date anyone at the moment?"

"Of course not. I'm _twelve_. In what world is that old enough for a relationship?" I deadpanned.

"But you're really mature for your age..."

"I'm not dating before I'm sixteen at least!" I snapped and threw up my hands.

Shinya grinned at my proclamation. "Okay, okay. Calm down Vivi-chan~." He thought over my problem and then told me his opinion. "Well, with the way how you phrased it, it sounds like he has a chance if he is persistent enough. Tell him again that you don't want to date him, not even in the future. If that doesn't work, I suggest you tell him that you totally hate him and can't stand him. If that still doesn't work, I'm volunteering to be your... fake boyfriend and scare him off. Actually, make that plan number one. It sounds like fun."

I lifted a brow. "Wow, you're cruel. Did you do the same things to girls who confessed to you but that you didn't like?" I deadpanned again and ignored the last part he had said, but Shinya just shrugged his shoulders.

"Actually… no one confessed to me yet…"

I couldn't believe that.

Girls his age had to be crushing on him. Or were the girls at his school deterred by his family name? That would make some sense if it was really a family of yakuza.

Shinya was a really fun, intelligent, and kind guy, and he was handsome, too. Although he could be a tad cheeky and arrogant sometimes. But I wasn't one to talk – I knew that I could be like that, too, and a troublemaker and vain at times as well.

"What?! No way! I thought that you already had a girlfriend, Shinya-nii?"

"Well... It's kind of complicated…" He rubbed the back of his head.

I face-palmed. "You know what? Let's end this ridiculous conversation and have a nice training fight instead."

What was I even doing here, asking a teenage boy of all people for romantic advise?

"If you're sure, Vivi-chan. This is such a fun topic to talk about." He really was entertained.

Well, at least one of us had their fun.

"Yes, I'm sure. I want to knock some sense into you for making me believe you've had a girlfriend for the past two years, Shinya-nii."

"Vivi-chan~, don't be so mean. I told you it's complicated... Are you jealous?" he teased me.

I got up and pulled him on his feet. Then I took a hold of the bamboo sword. They were better for fights than the wooden ones.

"You wish."

He smiled, walked over to me and took a similar stance with his sword. "Alright, let's have a fight. I won't go easy on you~."

"I wouldn't want it any other way." I grinned and then lunged at him.

"Ahaha~. You like it rough, huh?" he commented, and I only put more force behind my sword for his perverted comment.

"I'm going to make you eat dirt for that lewd comment!"

Today it was my win. I refused to believe that Shinya had let me win on purpose to make me feel better about myself.

* * *

Over the next months Hasegawa-kun remained stubborn in his quest to win me over, even though I had made it clear a few more times that I didn't want anything from him.

Stubborn teenage boys. I didn't know why he bothered with me, he had a nice personality and was handsome, and he could have come together with another girl his age by now. I didn't understand why he still... courted me.

Did he like me that much? It made me feel even worse for rejecting the boy. I felt as if I was kicking a puppy.

Meanwhile, I had begun with ballet lessons, which pleased my mum (she had done ballet in the past), because I had always been interested in it (I also liked the music for it), and Shinya was busy with something and told me he wouldn't be able to meet me for a long time.

Ballet was a welcome distraction from my worries even if I was really bad at it. Or maybe because I was bad at it.

The teacher shook her head in displeasure whenever I did something other than to pirouette – the only thing I could do well. I had thought that ballet would be similar to the standard dance course I had attended in my past life, but it was much more complex. You had to be conscious of what every body part was doing and were your limbs went.

It was a form of art. My admiration for professional ballerinas went up – they made it look so easy.

When I demanded an answer from Shinya why he wouldn't be able to meet me, he simply told me that some of his friends were in trouble, and that he didn't want to involve me unnecessarily. I was upset and told him as much but also instructed him to be careful and to call me or the police if he got in serious trouble.

He only answered me with one of his typical smiles. "Don't worry too much, Vivi-chan, or you'll get wrinkles."

"Shinya-nii…" Once he had set his mind on doing something, there was no going back...

He patted my head. "Don't worry," he repeated, "it's going to be okay."

I scrutinized him. "It better be."

I didn't see him for a long time. I watched the news everyday to see if anything about Shinya would pop up, but fortunately there was nothing extraordinary happening. Only one particularly odd newscast made me nervous. I didn't even know why.

It showed a burning building and firefighters trying to extinguish the fire when suddenly a young woman with long black hair appeared on the screen and got hysterical. She started screaming at the firefighters to let the building burn down and something about a demon child, who needed to be killed right this instant. Then a man clad in a black suit moved in front of the camera and the scene was cut off.

It was really weird. The woman had to be mentally impaired or was suffering from a mental breakdown. I hoped that the poor child she was talking about would be okay. Either way, I shook my head and went back to playing something on the piano.

Between texting Shinya and worrying for him summer came and with it the holidays.

* * *

During the summer break I went to Nagoya for two weeks to visit Shū and Mako-chan. I was rather surprised when I saw them.

Shū had grown like a weed and was taller than Mako-chan and almost as tall as my 166 centimetres (5'4"). Now, Makoto was the shortest in our group. Once I was at Mako-chan's house and they let me in, I let go of my luggage and ran towards them.

"Hello Shū and Mako-chan! I've missed you two~." I engulfed both of them in a tight hug. I might have adopted that habit because of constant exposure to Kaori, or maybe it was just me. Shū just went with it, but Mako-chan tried to get free.

"Hi, Vivian-senpai. We've missed you, too. Makoto wouldn't stop talking about you," Shū smiled slyly at me.

"Let go of me, Vivian! And Shūsaku, stop saying such things or she will believe it!" Makoto's face got red.

I didn't know if it was out of embarrassment or anger. Ah, or maybe because I was still holding them in my tight hug. I let go for now to let them breathe.

"Mako-chan, that's still 'Nee-chan' to you!" I scolded him lightly and ruffled through his hair. "At least you're still short enough for me to do that," I commented absent-mindedly. Kids grew up so fast.

"Are you calling me short?!" Mako-chan yelled.

"Yeah, you're kind of the shortest of us now. See." I stood next to Shū and then pulled Makoto in between us. The difference in height wasn't hard to miss.

"You sure have gotten tall, Shū," I turned to the younger boy. "Are you still able to fight well with your new height?"

"Let's find that out in a match, Vivian-senpai," Shū smiled confidently at me.

"You sure sound confident."

"Of course. I've trained all the time to be able to beat you someday."

"I like your determination. Let's go outside."

Shū and I walked out into the garden of the traditional Japanese house, leaving Makoto standing in the corridor.

"Hey, don't ignore me!" Mako-chan cried.

"Did you hear something, Shū?" I asked with a wicked grin.

"No, senpai. Just a dwarf talking," Shū answered me with his own devious smile.

"I will end you two!"

* * *

After a week of daily sword fights, we, meaning Shū and me, both had enough of it and we decided to go swimming at a local swimming pool for a change. Makoto was accompanying us against his will – we didn't let him escape. Fortunately, my mum had talked me into taking my newly bought blue bikini with me.

One of Makoto's older cousins took us there with his car. Inside, I found us a nice shady place and placed my towel over the lawn. Makoto and Shū placed theirs next to mine, our phones and other valuables were put away in a locker. Eager to get into the cool water, I stripped down to my bikini I already wore underneath and shoved the clothes into my bag.

My open hair fell into my eyes, and I put some strands of my fringe behind my ear while I turned around to my friends. I needed to visit a hairdresser soon. For now I put my hair into a braid for convenience.

"Are you ready, guys?"

"Sure!" Shū was ready to go. Mako-chan didn't meet my eyes and stared stubbornly at the ground. I rolled my eyes and simply grabbed his hand, tugging him with me.

"Come, now is not the time to get into one of your moods, Mako-chan! Let's get into the water; I can't stay one more minute in this heat."

He let himself be dragged to the pool edge under protests, not looking like he would go in any time soon. I glanced at the water… deep enough…

With one of my kicks I thrust him into the water, re-enacting a famous scene from a film.

"This is Sparta!" I pressed out between laughs at Mako-chan's funny expression as he fell into the water. Shū laughed together with me as Makoto swam up to the surface.

"I'll never let you watch that film again!" he shouted, his face twisted in anger. I jumped into the water right next to him, drenching him again in the process.

"That was a good one, Vivian-senpai," Shū held up his hand for a high five, which I gave him.

"I will get back at you!" Makoto lunged at us but we quickly swam away from him and hid behind other people.

We swam and played in the cool water until we were completely exhausted and laid down on our towels.

"Ah, that was refreshing!" I announced.

"Yeah, it's good we came here," Makoto confessed not that he had cooled down.

"See, sometimes you just have to listen to me, Mako-chan." I rolled around to smile at him.

Makoto grumbled at first but then let out an begrudging, "Yes… Nee-chan…"

"Aww, you're so cute when you call me that, Mako-chan!" I loved being called Nee-chan.

Makoto turned red in anger or embarrassment or both. "I'm a guy, and I'm not cute!" he protested while Shū chuckled.

"Mako-chan, if someone, specifically a girl, says that you're cute, then it's meant as a compliment," I informed him.

"I still don't like it. I'm manly, not cute!"

I snorted in amusement and began to snicker. Makoto was far from manly at this age. Especially not with his shoulder-length hair and the beauty spot under his eye. He could easily pass as a girl. But I wouldn't tell him that. It would crush the boy's ego.

"Hey! Are you laughing about me?!"

I just grinned like a Cheshire-cat while Shū tried to hold in his laughter. "You're adorable when you get all angry and embarrassed and your tsundere side shows, Mako-chan," I teased him and Shū nodded in agreement at my statement.

Makoto got even redder. "I-I'm not a tsundere!"

I laughed at his antics and Shū chimed in, "Yes you are, Makoto. But we still like you."

"You both should just shut up! You're horrible friends!"

* * *

Two days before I had to return home, _it_ happened. Once out of the futon, I grabbed my womanly hygiene bag and rushed to the bathroom as if my life depended on it. Fortunately, I was fast enough and hadn't stained anything but my underwear.

I spent the rest of the day moping around in front of the TV. Period cramps were not fun. I cursed Heaven and Hell that I had forgotten to take pain killers with me and was too lazy to ask for them.

"Hey, Vivi-nee, what's wrong with you? Why are you lying around the whole day?" Makoto poked me in the side.

"Are you sick, Vivian-senpai?" Shūsaku asked me, worried for me.

"No, I'm not sick. It's only the curse every woman has to suffer from every month," I groaned.

"Curse?! What kind of curse?!" Makoto exclaimed in alarm.

"Just ask your mum when I'm back home if you still want to know. Or any other woman for that matter. But I'll warn you, once you know what the curse is, you'll never see a woman with the same eyes as before. There is no going back once you know," I said in an ominous tone.

Mako-chan and Shū both gulped at my warning. It seemed that my period made me even more mischievous than I already was. I would apologize later on if they were seriously traumatized, but sooner or later they would come to that topic in biology class either way. And it was something completely natural.

We spent the rest of the day and the following one playing video games on a console and watching the anime 'Helsing Ultimate' (it fit my current mood) even though we were technically too young for it. Oh well, even I wanted to break some rules sometimes and the boys liked action.

I briefly wondered if the last anime I had seen in my past life – its name had been 'Owari no Seraph' if I remembered right– would exist in this world. I only had watched the first season and had wanted to start with the second one just before I died. Maybe it would come out in a few years.

The next day I went back home – my father picked me up with his car. I said good bye to everyone and gave Mako-chan and Shū a tight hug.

"Bye guys, take care of yourselves! I'll see you again during winter break. Don't forget to train your defence more and think before you attack, Mako-chan! Shū, please keep an eye on Mako-chan to make sure he doesn't do something dumb! I know I can trust you," I told them with a grin.

Makoto only mumbled, "I don't need a good defence if my offence is good."

"Yes, I'll do that, Vivian-senpai. You take care of yourself, too. I'll Skype with you on your birthday."

"Sure, let's do that! Bye bye!" I ruffled through Mako-chan's hair and then sat down in the car next to my dad. I waved at them until I couldn't see them anymore.

* * *

I visited Kenta and Emi in Kyōto and spent the rest of summer break hanging out with Kaori and Akira. Sadly, I met Shinya only a few times during that time. Suddenly, one Tuesday morning he stood at our apartment door. I let him in and took a seat on the sofa in the living room, crossing my arms.

"So, what have you been up to these past few months, Shinya-nii?" I asked him.

"I've made some friends… and we got into a bit of trouble, like I said."

"Uh-huh. That's rather vague. Well, at least you didn't forget me completely…" I had been constantly worried for my friend and had missed him.

"Oh, Vivi-chan, are you maybe… jealous?" he teased with a smile on his face.

"Yes, as a matter of fact, I kind of am. We've been friends for five years… suddenly you find some new ones and you practically vanish from the surface of the earth, making me worried over nothing!" I had watched the news every day for months like I was paranoid, but I wouldn't tell him that.

"Aww. Are you pouting?"

"No. Maybe. Yes. I hope that your new friends are nice at least." I was a _tiny_ bit peeved at being abandoned like that. It made me feel lonely.

"They are. They're a bit weird… but who isn't?"

If that came from Shinya they must be odder than odd. _I_ was his best friend after all.

"So, are you going to introduce me to them or what?"

"Hmm… that would be kind of… dangerous."

"Are they from the yakuza or what?" It was a half-joke. I knew that his family was involved in some shady business, so the thought that his friends had similar backgrounds wasn't too absurd.

"…"

"Seriously? I knew that you were strange when I met you all those years ago, but I didn't think you would be downright suicidal," I deadpanned.

"Now, now, Vivi-chan. Don't be mean. It was just a joke! Did you really believe that?" Shinya told me with a smile in his typical light-hearted attitude.

I watched him carefully – his smile seemed honest but he couldn't fool me. He interpreted my silence right and sighed.

All the playfulness he had exuded before was gone and only seriousness was left.

"My friends and I are onto something… I can't tell you what because I don't want to put you in danger. I'll… have to stay away from you for a while even if I don't want to. Please trust me on this one, Vivi-chan."

I didn't want to, to be honest. Since I had met him, Shinya had tried to solve all his problems on his own and rarely asked for help even though I wanted to aid him. Granted, in his eyes I was an even younger kid he didn't want to endanger because he didn't know about my past life and my mental age.

Still, Shinya was a fifteen year old child in my eyes, and I didn't want to see him in any kind of danger. Shinya was one of my closest friends, I cared for him like he was my brother, and I didn't want to lose him. But I couldn't confine him either. He was his own person and had the right to choose what he wanted to do. He made decisions for himself, and he was capable enough to take care of himself. With a heavy heart, I sighed.

"Then I will trust you, Shinya-nii. But if it ever goes over your heads… please don't try to do everything by yourselves, and call for help. I know you're a loyal person and won't abandon your friends, no matter what situation you are in, but please, try to stay safe… and alive. I don't want to… lose you." I had lost so much already and Shinya had still all of his life to live.

Faster than he could react, I jumped onto his lap and hugged him tightly. Shinya was a bit stiff out of surprise at first, but then he placed his hands around me and returned the hug.

"I will. I promise, Vivi-chan."

Some heartbeats later I let go of him. Shinya wiped over my cheek with his thumb – I didn't notice that some tears had started falling down.

"You're crying... Do you like me that much?" he teased me. I pouted in mock-hurt.

"Of course I am. Someone who is part of my family, my stupid best friend, is placing himself in danger."

Shinya looked taken aback for a moment and then a bright smile spread over his face. "Ah, is that so? It feels good to be loved."

"Hn," I stood up and then returned his smile. "I'll make us some tea. Do you want to listen to the new piano piece I've created?"

"I would love to. Oh, and I brought you your favourite kind of chocolate, Vivi-chan."

My eyes lit up at the mention of chocolate. He held the box out to me, and I was about to take it with a beaming smile before I realized…

"Is this a bribe, Shinya-nii?"

He smiled innocently at me. Too innocent. "Why would you think that, Vivi-chan? I simply want to treat you for always being there for me."

I eyed him suspiciously with narrowed eyes but took the offered box and opened it, plopping one piece into my mouth.

"Delicious," I commented as the flavour spread and smiled back at Shinya in contentment.

* * *

 **A/N:** Poor Makoto... I feel kind of sorry for him. How do you like my characterisation of him, Shinya, and Shūsaku? I would love some reviews!

I hope I'll see you again in the next chapter when the canon plot starts!


	3. When The Final Bell Tolls

****Disclaimer** :** I don't own Owari no Seraph, its plot or characters, or any other mentioned books, songs, or series. They belong to their respective owners. I only own my OCs and the plot that deviates from canon or doesn't exist in canon. This is a non-profit fan fiction just for fun.

 **Beta reader: haelyeon**

 **A/N:** I want to thank **MCRDanime** , **kuroneki** , **J4ck 0n Cr4ck** , **Kara-Fire21** , and **javonn919** for following my story! I also want to thank **Seithr-Kairy** , **J4ck 0n Cr4ck** , and **javonn919** for adding _Between Two Worlds_ to their favourites list, and of course, all the other readers of this story! You can thank my lovely beta reader **haelyeon** , for making this chapter a better read. Thank you so much, **haelyeon**! I think we all appreciate it that I won't butcher the English language and grammar anymore ⁄(⁄ ⁄•⁄ω⁄•⁄ ⁄)⁄.

The plot thickens... This chapter will be somewhat dark, but I hope you will still enjoy it! - **Saya Tsukihime**

 **Edited on 04.06.2019. I had to add a few things because I changed a lot in chapter 4. Hopefully, I'll be able to upload it soon!  
**

* * *

 **Chapter 3** **– When The Final Bell Tolls**

In September, I gifted Mako-chan with a durable dark blue hair tie on his eleventh birthday because he always complained about his hair wrecking all the normal hair ties he'd use. I didn't know why he didn't simply cut it short if it bothered him that much. Boys.

Fall came, and with it came my thirteenth birthday. I received many books, CDs, manga merchandise revolving around ninja and samurai (my passion), plush owls (I loved owls for an inexplicable reason), obscure games and chocolate from my friends.

Even Hasegawa-kun gave me some chocolate. He still hadn't given up on me, and I found myself flattered that he had stayed persistent for this long. The teen had some serious determination that I couldn't help but respect; hence, I was infinitely more conscience-stricken that I couldn't return his feelings...

Despite my stage fright, I had two public piano performances in the following weeks as my music teacher had encouraged me to participate in a music competition. I had become first place in spring, and I was proud of my achievement; yet, I somehow felt even more like a cheater since I had competed against children and won when I was actually an adult trapped in a young teen's body.

My conscience was acting up, but I tried to deal with it as well as I was able to and see things in a more positive light.

Now, my dream of becoming a pianist was within my grasp at least. I gave a ticket to each of my friends, and everyone managed to attend since the third of November, called Culture Day by the masses, was a national holiday that was held annually for the purpose of promoting culture, the arts and academic endeavor. So even Shinya was somehow able to make some time.

I was also searching for a high school that I'd have to attend in the following year, and I came to the conclusion that I wanted a major in music again. While I was sad that I would most likely not visit high school together with Kaori and Akira, I would do my best to clear my schedule for them as much as possible and to spent our remaining time together to make unforgettable memories.

On his birthday in November, I gifted Shinya with a key chain in the form of a cute white tiger. His reaction was rather… unusual. Shinya stared at the small, blue-eyed plush feline with a quizzical expression on his face.

"How…?"

"Don't you like it? I was shopping with Kaori when I saw it and thought that it somehow suited you… You can take it with you as a good luck charm..." I trailed off. Shinya's eyes were boring into mine.

"Why would you think that a white tiger suits me?" he asked in an intrigued tone.

"I don't know. Maybe because your hair is white, too, and you have blue eyes… it just seemed to fit. Do you not like it?" I didn't really know myself why I thought that this present was perfect for him. It was like one of those weird déjà vu again, a feeling I couldn't explain.

"No, no, I like it. It just… surprised me," he smiled.

I eyed him with suspicion. "Really…?"

"Yes. Don't be so suspicious all the time, Vivi-chan~."

"If you say so…" I was still not convinced. "Let's have a training fight next week. It's been a while."

"Ah, alright. You want to lose that badly?" Shinya inquired jokingly, making me slap his arm.

"Don't be so arrogant," I chided him.

"Ahaha~."

* * *

I lost the match; Shinya seemed to be even stronger and faster than before, and I could tell that he had even held back... How was he so freakishly strong?!

After he had made me drop my sword, a martial art spar ensued and we landed on the ground. Eventually, I had to surrender when Shinya used his superior strength to sit on me, subsequently pinning my arms into the soft grass beneath us, only to announce my loss with a smile on his face.

I was not pleased with my own incompetence and decided that I had neglected my karate training for too long in the past months. Because of ballet training and my preparations for the piano performance, I had only been able to drop by the dojo once a week. I was determined to train even harder now so I could someday wipe that smug smile off his face...!

* * *

A few weeks later, I met up with Kaori and Akira on the 25th of December inside a mall. It had a crepes stand and a karaoke bar which we would visit later. My parents had some "special business" to attend to and were away for the day. They had been acting somewhat secretive over the past weeks, and whenever I had asked them about it, they simply replied that they were preparing a surprise. I couldn't help but wonder what they were planning.

"Crepes, crepes, I love desserts~!" Kaori sang whilst trying not to get squished in between the masses of people inside the shopping mall.

"I know, Kaori, I know. They're the gods' food. I'm so glad that we finally have a holiday…" I was getting a bit exhausted from school, club activities, kendō competition, ballet lessons and the piano performances. Maybe I was trying to bite off more than I could chew. But this time around, I wanted to do more worthwhile things so that I wouldn't have to die with regrets.

Maybe I was overcompensating because I had missed out on so many things in my first life. Yes, I was definitely overcompensating.

Akita hummed in understanding, "That's understandable, you're doing too many different things at once."

"Freaking overachiever," Kaori commented good-naturedly. I sighed in response, but I couldn't deny it. Was this what dying with regrets had done to my psyche?

"Let's go into that jewellery store first if you don't mind. I need to find something for my grandma in Russia," I proposed. Kaori and Akira agreed.

I found grandma Darya a pair of earrings that she could wear to work or to an evening dress; I would be going to visit her and grandpa Mikhail with my parents on New Year's Eve. It was the only time during the year in which I saw them in person. Yoriko-baa didn't really celebrate Christmas, so my parents and I would just visit her in the next few days and bring her some of the local sweets.

Shortly after, I found a present for my granddad, too, and we decided to spend the rest of the day looking for things we might enjoy.

"We're going to go to different high schools soon…" Kaori suddenly changed the subject and revealed what had been on her mind for weeks.

"Yeah…" Neither me nor Akira enjoyed the idea of being separated from each other.

"But it's not like we're never seeing each other again, Kaori. We can still meet up and have lots of fun together. And each of us will have their own crazy stories to tell!" I cheered her and Akira up, or at least attempted to.

"I know… but it won't be the same."

I pulled her and Akira into a hug. "We'll still remain friends, no matter how far apart we are from each other. And it's not like we'll never see each other again." Kaori began to sniffle. Akira tried to comfort her and rubbed her back in a soothing motion. I watched their interaction with a sly smirk.

I hoped that they would get together one day. I didn't want to interfere and would let things play out the natural way. I wasn't very well-versed in romantic matters and would most likely just ruin it.

"Vivi-chan~, you and Akira are my bestest friends, ever!" Kaori exclaimed with a bright smile on her face, a few tears still lingering in the corner of her eyes.

"Of course. We are the 'Odd Trio' after all!" I replied haughtily. We got something to eat after that and sat down on a bench that was facing the tall Christmas tree in the middle of the mall. While we conversed, I munched happily on my crepe and watched the colourful crowd of people flutter around like a horde of moths in the search for light. They were minding their own business; however, I started to notice that many people were beginning to cough. Was there a virus going around?

There had been no warnings of a flu outbreak on the news earlier. It had to be nothing but a weird coincidence.

"Somehow, I-I don't feel well," Akira's voice pulled me out of my thoughts. Kaori and I watched him with growing concern as he began to cough just like the many other people surrounding us. I turned back around to face the crowd. More and more people fell to their knees or collapsed on the floor, pain encompassing their faces.

It was surreal, and I watched everything with frightened eyes before snapping out of my trance.

"What's going on here?!" Kaori was just as shocked as I was, terror pushing her voice.

"We have to call an ambulance, this is not normal!" I finally declared, pulling out my phone to call an ambulance, but the call somehow didn't get through. How could that be?! There always had to be someone there to receive emergency calls. I tried to call a local hospital, but I didn't get through on that number either. No one picked the phone up.

What in the world was happening?! My heart started to pound faster and faster in my growing panic while Kaori tried phoning some other numbers, too, but she also didn't have any success reaching them.

Akira was writhing in pain now and violent coughs were shaking his body. To my horror, Kaori had begun coughing violently, too. Then, out of nowhere blood poured from Akira's eyes, mouth and nose, forcing him to collapse. My heart seemed to stop at the sight of the red liquid. What the heck was happening?!

I shook him by his shoulders. "Akira?! I can't get through! We have to get you to a hospital!" I turned to my other friend. "Kaori, can you..."

Kaori looked up into my eyes. "Vivi-chan…" she whispered weakly before her blood started oozing out of her eyes, nose and mouth, and she fell to the ground before I could take a hold of her. Just like Akira. Just like all the people around her. It was like I was stuck inside a horror film.

"Kaori!" I tried to feel her pulse and check her breathing, trying to ignore the crimson blood covering the ground… but there was nothing. I started giving her a heart massage while tears streamed down my face, but she didn't react.

My head snapped back to Akira, who was still sitting crouched on the bench with his head buried in his lap, but he didn't cough anymore. He was eerily still.

I jumped up and moved him around to see how he was. Blood drenched the whole front of his clothes, and it was smeared all over his face. Never before had I seen something so gruesome. He didn't seem to be breathing. With shaking hands, I searched for his pulse… nothing.

Suddenly, I heard loud crashes and explosions from outside the building.

"Akira...! No, this can't be happening! This is all some kind of secret joke, right? Hey! Kaori, Akira! Come on, wake up, you can't be… _dead_." My voice broke at the end. This all had to be a nightmare! I must have fallen asleep, right?

I faced the crowd, but there was no crowd anymore. There were only masses of people lying on the ground, motionless, seemingly asleep in their own blood puddles. They were everywhere.

The sound of my blood pumping through my body was becoming incredibly loud, drowning all other noises, and the world around began to spin. Mechanically, I attempted once more to call an ambulance.

I couldn't believe what I was seeing. I didn't know what I should do. I couldn't stop my hands from shaking. They were slick with blood, Kaori's and Akira's blood.

The overwhelming, metallic smell of more blood filled my senses, so intense that I could taste it on my tongue.

The call did not connect. I felt sick.

Frantically I tried calling both of my parents, their workplace, some of their colleagues, my school office and my music teacher who I still had contact to.

Anyone... But there was no response. No one answered their phone. This was not… this couldn't be real... This... It had to be a nightmare. One last time I called Shinya, but his phone was off, so I spoke something on his mailbox just in case. I couldn't reach Mako-chan or Shū either. It was the same with Kenta, Emi, and my classmates. What was happening...?!

I... I had to get out of here… to get help. I stumbled outside the building and stepped carefully around and over people… corpses.

Outside, a picture of utter destruction and death greeted my eyes. Cars had crashed together or into buildings and were ablaze with unmoving people still inside them. More people were lying lifelessly in their own blood on the walkways. One of the skyscrapers in the area was burning because a helicopter had seemingly crashed into it. This was... It was the apocalypse.

Even the dark sky was the colour of crimson flames. A menacing wind blew the stench of ash, charred flesh, blood, and burning plastic into my face, making me choke from the revolting, overpowering smells and causing more tears to well up in my eyes. My stomach churned and I felt incredibly nauseous. Not even a second later, I threw up on the side walk.

"...Help! Someone! Anyone! HELP! PLEASE!" I cried out once my mouth was free of barf, but no one replied my desperation. What should I do?! How should I get help?! An idea struck my mind. If I couldn't get the help via phone, I should just get it in person, right?

Without paying attention to directions, I had wandered out onto the street, so I tried to orientate myself first. Then I saw the street sign. There! The next hospital wasn't that far away. I started jogging into its direction, avoiding... people on the ground and cars. My mind became numb, I was unable to think anything other than 'GET HELP'. All the while a haunting feeling of déjà vu overcame me as I staggered through the devastated city.

Then and there, the screeching of tires on the ground pulled me out of my trance-like state. Two military cars had stopped in front of me and men in strange but oddly familiar black uniforms rushed towards me.

"Sir, this girl seems to be unaffected by the virus. How should we proceed with her?" one of the men asked another one whose eyebrows reminded me of a villain, immediately raising suspicion in me. He looked too young to already belong to the military elite.

"Oh, this one is... Capture her. We are not sure how many people survived and the labs want to stock up on test subjects." What? Labs? Test subjects? What was this all about?

"Yes, Sir!" the men saluted him and came closer.

What... what was going on here? I shook my head, I could ask questions later. I needed medical aid for my friends. "Wait! I need help! Please! My friends… they were bleeding and they're not..." Breathing. I couldn't say it out loud. "We have to do something! I can't get into contact with anyone!" I moved away from the men on instinct.

"They are already dead then. The virus has killed everyone out here in this vicinity and the vampires are starting to overrun the city. You'll be safe with us, come," the young higher ranking official with monster eyebrows tried to persuade me. I shook my head in denial.

"No! That can't be! I don't believe you! I won't go with you! I have to help them!" I took a few steps back again, but someone grabbed me from behind. I was stiff from shock for a moment, but then I went right into my self-defence regime. I knocked the soldier who had unknowingly moved behind me with my elbow into his stomach and crouched down a little to catapult him over my shoulder right into another man who had come too close. I had the advantage of surprise.

A short fight between me and the soldiers broke out; however, they had the advantage of numbers and they were grown men while I was just a young teen. I was nowhere near close in fighting them off, even if my karate assisted me greatly. Managing to kick another man in a momentum of surprise, the other soldiers succeeded in securing me, despite my struggle.

"Stubborn girl. She will be a good test subject", Evil Eyebrows growled from behind me before something hit me on the back of my head. Faintly, I could hear something similar to a bell toll in the distance; yet, it might just be the ringing inside my head. It was the last sound I picked up before everything went dark.

* * *

I woke up with a pounding headache, disorientation disabling my senses. Waiting a few moments until my eyes got used to the bright light of the room, I was able to smell the sterile stench of disinfectants and bleach. I didn't die again did I?

Slowly but surely, the memories came back. Kaori, Akira, blood, people lying everywhere, fire, destruction...

Death.

Bile threatened to come up my throat again at the mental imagines. As soon as my hazy thoughts managed to realise that soldiers had captured me, I quickly opened my eyes again – this time, I didn't close them but took in my surroundings, alarmed.

I was inside a white room that resembled a hospital, medical supplies and syringes laying on tables next to me. The soldiers... they had mentioned something about test subjects, hadn't they? Fear crawled up my spine.

I shouldn't stay here. I wanted to sit up and get away, but my arms and feet were strapped down on the stretcher I was lying on. Noticing that someone had changed my clothes and had put me into a plain white hospital gown, I struggled just a bit more.

A door opened and people in green surgeon attires entered, setting their sight on me as they did. My heartbeat accelerated in panic and fear at the cold looks they were giving me. _No._ This couldn't be happening for real! I wasn't inside a science fiction film! People didn't just get experimented on in real life...! I struggled with all my might against the straps.

Kaori, Akira, my parents, Shinya, Mako-chan, Shū, Kenta, and Emi, all those people in the mall and on the streets. They couldn't be dead, right? _Wake up! This is just a nightmare! I'm going to wake up soon...!_

But I didn't wake up.

"You can struggle all you want, but you won't be able to escape. We've already lost the other Seraphs to the bloodsuckers. We're not going to lose our new test subjects," one of the male doctors with glasses told me.

"L-Let me out of here right this instant! You... you are violating my human rights! You'll go to prison when this comes out!" I tried to scare them off with logic, even though I knew that if they already went so far as to capture me and strap me to this stretcher, they would most likely go through with the other things they had planned for me.

But I couldn't just stay still and do nothing; after all, I was afraid. Very afraid. Afraid that all the people I loved were dead, and afraid of what these doctors were going to do with me. _Please let me wake up...!_

One of them grabbed a smaller syringe with a translucent liquid and poked it into my side. I wasn't able to evade it.

"This will make her stay still for a while."

"Start the injections on the test subject 004 of the new batch," a male voice commanded coldly over speakers.

I could feel the effects of the liquid they had injected me with. My arms and legs got heavier and each movement of them became more sluggish until I couldn't move my limbs anymore and was unable to utter coherent words. My mind, however, was as sharp and awake as ever, and I took in every movement the doctors made.

Each of the four doctors took up one of the biggest syringes and injected me with their contents. To say it was painful would be an understatement.

It was the purest and most horrific torture. It was pure agony. It felt unlike anything I have ever felt. It felt as if someone was slicing up every inch of my body and poured scalding hot bleach through my veins… again and again. Again and again.

I screamed for an unfathomable amount of time until my throat felt like it was on fire. It could have been seconds, it could have been hours, I didn't know. Just as my heart and head felt like they were about to explode, the pain subsided ever so slightly, leaving me panting, crying, soaked with sweat, and sore behind. I felt absolutely miserable.

The doctors injected me with some kind of IV bags and then rolled me out of the room. Only now, I saw the window separating the room and the spectators that had been watching my torture from behind it.

I felt something I had never once felt in such intensity as I laid my eyes on their emotionless, unimpressed faces – as if they hadn't just ordered to torture a thirteen year old girl. I identified the emotion as the deepest hatred I had ever felt for anyone – pure loathing, mixed with an equal amount of anger, fear, and despair.

Then, I finally lost consciousness and fell into a blissful, painless sleep.

* * *

I didn't know how much time had passed when I woke up the next time. This time, I was in a small white cell, and I was lying on a tiny bed that stood in one of the corners. On the wall opposite of me was a door with a small look-through window. Next to my bed was a small table; the room also had a toilet and washbasin behind a partition wall.

Otherwise, my room was completely bare. It looked like a prison cell.

As if someone had watched me the whole time and knew I had just awoken, the door opened and a metal tray with food and water in a bottle were shoved into the room. Quickly, I contemplated my situation and options and almost refused to eat, simply because it would be as if I was accepting my fate of becoming a human guinea pig.

But then my rational side took over. If I ever wanted to get out of here, I needed to eat nutrients to stay strong and endure this until they slipped up. Yes, the procedure was beyond painful, and if I didn't eat, I would someday be too weak to get experimented on.

However, I didn't know if that would stop them – I doubted it. I had the feeling that they would continue with whatever they were trying to achieve, even if I starved myself. Most likely it would only end up with me dying again. I wouldn't have to endure these... medical procedures if I just died earlier, but I didn't want to die. This life had just started!

I still had things I wanted to do – I wanted to see the people I loved again and that could only be done if I held on and _survived_. My past life had been ripped away from me, and I didn't want this life to end even earlier. Even if death was definitely more peaceful than getting experimented on.

No, I had to stay strong and endure, survive for my family, my friends and myself. I swore to myself that I wouldn't give in. This was my resolve.

With every bite I ate, I mentally repeated what I had told myself to steel my mind and body against the torture that would surely continue soon. The water soothed my hoarse throat.

* * *

Hours later, someone retrieved the tray, and I started exercising inside my room – I wouldn't let my body get too weak to escape and there was nothing better to do anyway. My body still hurt a little from the liquid they had injected into me with, but I ignored the pain. At least my headache had gotten better.

At some point in time, the light inside my room went out, and I was left in darkness. That most likely meant that I should sleep. Again, I did as I was told and got into bed, pulling the blanket over me.

I couldn't sleep at first because my thoughts kept reminding me of the torture I would certainly have to endure again; pictures of my friends dying before my eyes were floating through my mind. To counter that, I imagined myself playing my favourite songs on the piano and concentrated on my breathing. After some time it worked and my mind got calmer and calmer, sending me off into a dream.

I woke up several times due to nightmares reminding me again of that blood covered mall with the corpses or the screams of other children that confirmed that I wasn't the only test subject here.

But unlike me, they were real children who got tortured by them. Not that being tortured as an adult was any better. But this was even more unforgivable. Thus, my hatred towards those people who had captured me – those _monsters_ – only continued growing.

When the lights went on again, I stood up from my bed to perform a short morning routine, waiting for them to get me. I was going to try to escape for the first time today.

However, my plans were halted when some sort of fog seeped from somewhere up on the ceiling.

Covering my mouth and nose with my blanket, I held my breath as if I were about to drown, but in the end, the paralysing fog won. My body slumped over, unresponsive. My mind, however, was wide awake.

Two men came in when I was fully out of commission and placed me on a wheelchair before they rolled me out into another room. They placed me on some kind of seat and held onto my arms to make sure I wouldn't collapse.

Then a woman joined them and took off my hospital gown. I protested but to no avail – I couldn't talk. The woman started washing me with a shower head and some liquid soap that smelled weirdly antiseptic. After washing me like a lifeless doll to the point of absolute detest, she dried me with a towel and put on new white underwear and a new hospital gown.

No thoughts were spent on my privacy.

The men placed me back into the wheelchair and rolled me into the great white room – the torture chamber. Together, they heaved me onto the stretcher and strapped me down just when my strength started to return. The same men from last time were watching me from behind the glass window or whatever it was made out of.

 _'I will get out of here! You'll see!'_ I declared inside my head, a fire of determination burning inside me that battled with my overwhelming fear. The other four doctors came into the room and looked expectantly at the men standing behind the window.

"Start the injections on test subject 004 of the new 'Seraph of the End' transfer project." The same man who had spoken last time commanded via loudspeaker.

The doctors picked up the syringes and started the injections. This time, I knew what was coming; although, that didn't make it hurt any less. If anything, the anticipation of pain made it worse. I screamed and screamed – it was a reaction I couldn't control. Again, I was subjected to the ultimate pain and did only fall unconscious once the pain started to subside. My new mantra was repeatedly chorused inside my mind.

 _Endure the pain._

 _Stay strong._

 _Don't give up._

 _Survive for your family, friends, and for yourself._

* * *

The next time I woke up, I was in my cell again. I guessed that they let me have a one day pause in between the torture sessions. I hadn't really thought about it when I heard it, but what the guy who was in charge had said about the 'Seraph of the End' project, made my mind almost burst at the impossibility of everything.

I have had inexplicable déjà vu before, but I hadn't really found the reason as to why... and yet, here in this facility, it became as clear as day.

Somehow I had been reborn into the world of 'Owari no Seraph', the last anime I had watched before I died. A story about a post-apocalyptic world where vampires and humans fought against each other and monsters roamed the earth. A world where children were used for experimentation or as livestock.

And I was right in the middle of it.

These men were trying to turn me into a seraph, a weapon of destruction, and they had somehow caused the virus if I remembered right… and the death of many people in the process. Because they were lusting for power.

For them power was worth the death of millions of people, and Kaori and Akira, my parents, and other friends who were older than me were most likely dead because of them. The virus had affected people above a certain age.

Kaori and Akira… they had gone to the mall because of me. Would they have survived if they had been away from large crowds of people that spread the virus faster?

That sobering line of thoughts made my heart clench together in pain and guilt… tears began to trail down my face as I accepted the truth I didn't want to see back then. They were dead. They had died on that day. And my parents… where did they even go and what surprise had they been planning? Would I ever find out? Were they still alive? What about my other friends?

Were they alright...?

In the story, the virus had affected most people over the age of thirteen. But why hadn't I been affected then, too? I had turned thirteen two months ago. Was I somehow… spared because I had already died once? Or was I just lucky and a freak of nature? Maybe only people the age of fourteen and above had been affected?

Why had I even been reborn? I knew a bit about the story of 'Owari no Seraph', but only had realised now, when it was too late to stop the apocalypse, that I was in it. Could I even have changed that if I had recognized the signs much earlier?

Doubtful.

No matter what knowledge I possessed, I still had been only a child without power or influence, even if someone had believed my story of rebirth. I couldn't have possibly prevented a worldwide disaster.

Was I sent here to change things after the apocalypse? That thought seemed presumptuous. Aside from getting reborn, there was nothing special about me. I was probably here for no reason at all. Maybe I had just been unlucky to be reborn in this parallel world.

No matter how much I thought about these things, right now I was a prisoner here. The most important thing at the moment was to find a way to escape; then, I would look for my precious people, and then I could think about my future actions and the story. This wasn't a story, this was my life after all.

I didn't know much about the story in the first place and many things had been forgotten. Thanks to one of my friends who'd always try to spoil the whole plot, I remembered vaguely that the experiments of the Hyakuya Sect on Yū and Mikaela had been continued under the Japanese Imperial Demon Army. It had been my last conversation with her, so it was still lingering in my mind.

The Demon Army was experimenting on me and other children, though I couldn't understand the reason for that. I remembered hearing a spoiler from her that only children with a special seraph gene were experimented on. Or was that false information?

Were the things from the anime/manga even accurate in this world? Did I perhaps have that ominous seraph gene? Or was I just a random person who got involved in this mess by sheer bad luck?

…Who could really tell?

I wiped away the rest of my tears and decided that it would be best for now to try and remember as much as possible about the show, even if there was no guarantee that the same would happen in this world.

For the whole day, I was thinking about the story and the characters, even when I ate my two meals of the day and exercised. I repeated that for the next days, while the morning after each break started with fog entering the room again, and once I had no more control over my body, the two guys with the wheelchair came, brought me to the shower room where the woman would wash and clean me and redress me, and then came the torture room.

Day in, day out for the first month: it was the same routine. One day break, torture with injections the next.

However, at some point the time between the injections was prolonged to a week, then to two. That didn't mean that they didn't do other examinations or tests. Often I was sat on some kind of strange seat with wires and pipes attached to it, that got loaded with electricity. I didn't remember much of that procedure in particular. Other times I was placed in the middle of some kind of magic circle with talismans attached to me. My mind became dizzy and unfocused whenever they did that and sometimes I had mental blanks that lasted for days afterwards. If I didn't know better, I would have thought that I was the victim of some occult sect.

Or rather, this was an occult sect. As a result it was impossible to fathom how much time had passed here, I had given up to count after day seven hundred thirty three, which was also just a guess, simply because it was too depressing to think about how long I had already been here and had never had a chance to escape.

I tried to make plans how to get out, and what I would do when I got out. Both weren't very convincing. There had never been an opportunity for me to even try to sneak out. Even when I tried to pry the door open with parts of furniture during the... what-I-assumed-to-be night, I didn't succeed.

In my frustration, I destroyed my room and the things in it more than once. Destruction was a way to get rid off my built-up frustration, desperation and anger. I've never had a destructive urge until now...

My captors brought me a radio, keyboard, paper, books, and console games to keep me somewhat sane and from destroying the furniture for the nth time; however, that didn't stop me from planning all their deaths in the most painful way possible. My thoughts were drifting off into the darkest corners they had never been to inside this facility.

Sometimes, one of those shithead doctors came to my cell to talk with me, tried to evaluate me and brainwash me by saying that I would become a hero who would save all of humanity and kill all the monsters if I held out for longer. They told me lies that vampires were the ones who started the apocalypse and how they were at fault for everything, to make me want to eliminate them.

But I knew the truth, or at least what I thought to be the truth. I didn't believe a word the doctors chanted, even if I would get rewards like a dog whenever I'd do their bidding.

A new book, for example, or different meals if my request wasn't too exotic. Most of the time I would remain completely silent, glaring at the doctor in my room with pure hatred, but one time I just couldn't bear it anymore and even attacked the man who was always spouting nothing but nonsense. As if my friends and parents would want me to endure this, so I would one day be able to save mankind, and other garbage.

Certainly, I was enduring this for them, but only to escape from here and not to become a bio weapon for these men. I didn't want to be their saviour and I didn't ask for any of this. It wasn't my responsibility to clean up the mess they have made. I wanted to study music, become a pianist. I wanted to search for my parents and friends, not become a bio weapon for the sake of these people.

The infuriated man tried many different approaches to make me more compliant and that arsehole made me so incredibly furious with his self-righteous nonsense and attempts at brainwashing me that I just... snapped one day. I launched myself at him like a wild beast and beat the man down before I used the chair and brought it down on his head. Why couldn't he just shut up?!

"How about saving mankind yourself?! How about injecting yourself?! Stop using others for your own gain, you pretentious piece of shit!" I growled, heavy huffs stopping me from speaking coherently.

Before I was restrained in my anger-driven daze, I managed to kick him a few times until he stopped moving and blood spread on the ground underneath him. It gave me satisfaction to see one of those 'doctors' injured and unmoving on the ground, coercing a cruel and twisted smile to spread over my face.

Then I calmed down and realized what I had done... I had beaten up bullies before but not like this... And this time around, I didn't even feel sorry for it.

I wondered what the time in captivity did to my personality – my sanity… refraining from dwelling on that line of thought. I had never been one for violence or aggressive behaviour in both of my lives; as such, I had never really hurt someone outside a training fight or other than to scare off some bullies... until now. And didn't even feel sorry this time..

It frightened me, to say the least, so I tried to bury those thoughts, the whole incident, as one would bury the dead – deep into my soul.

* * *

I didn't care if there were any consequences for my actions, until another doctor began talking to me a week later while I was restrained with handcuffs. That had seemed to be the only repercussion for my actions.

Even more depressing was the fact that I heard fewer and fewer children scream over the time here. It wasn't a good sign – screaming meant they were alive. I didn't know if they had died, or if the doctors had been successful and they were brought somewhere else where they didn't have to endure the injections or other experiments and procedures anymore. With all my heart I hoped for the latter.

Nightmares of the day of the apocalypse and the deaths of the other children as well as my torture kept haunting me, in spite of the 'therapy sessions' here. It was more attempts at brainwashing than anything else.

With each day that passed, I got angrier and more frustrated at my own inability to do anything to help the other children or to get out myself. It felt as if I wasn't even trying, although I was trying; I trained, ate, slept, made plans and watched each and every detail I saw when I would be brought out of my room.

I already knew that downstairs was a morgue and that there were stairs that led up to the rooftop. As I only passed the stairs with the respective signs on it whenever I'd be brought outside with the wheelchair, everything else was pretty much a mystery.

Every time I went to bed and heard other children screaming, the guilt came. If another person had come to this world, could they have changed it for the better?

Of course, I never received answers to these questions I asked myself over and over again until I came to the conclusion that 'what ifs' wouldn't help me nor them. They would only drive me crazy... or more crazy than I already was. It was what it was.

The seemingly endless routine of tests repeated itself over and over again, my mantra being the only thing keeping me sane – my conviction that I would get out of here and find my remaining friends if I only stayed strong and endured.

I took refuge inside my mind during my time here. I composed many new piano pieces and played them and other songs that reminded me of friends, family, and happier days on the keyboard I had received, as well as inside my mind. Although I was working out every time on my spare day to stay fit and strong, the experiments made me weaker and weaker.

At some point in time, my chest started to hurt, and I even coughed up blood. That couldn't be good. Scared, I told the men that came with the wheelchair, but it seemed that they didn't care. Panic and fear were towering over me, leaving their shadows of impending doom. I didn't want to die here, not after everything I had to endure!

I tried to protest and struggle as they brought me into the torture room for my injections and bound me to the stretcher once more.

"NOOO! LET ME GO! I DON'T WANT TO DIE!" I screamed at the top of my lungs.

"It seems that the last one still has some fighting spirit inside her," Evil Eyebrows commented to one of the doctors, Nakahara, the one with the glasses.

"She's a truly vicious little thing, Sir. You should have seen what she did to Ishida," the doctor replied in his nasal voice. A new doctor I had never seen before, perhaps this... Ishida's substitute, injected me with something while the other ones were preoccupied with preparing everything. Probably to make me calm down.

Evil Eyebrows – Hiiragi Kureto – smirked as if this was funny to him. "I know. I've seen the records. Maybe test subject 004 will survive. We really need the power of the seraph. We've come too far to give up." He glanced once more at me before he, together with the blond woman that followed him around like a dog, went into the other room behind the glass windows. There were some more soldiers of higher ranks judging from the uniforms standing watch next to them that I had never seen before. I didn't care about them anyway. I knew that no one would help me.

An overwhelming feeling of dread and despair settled in my heart. I was the last one? The thought made me feel nauseated. I knew that it had been rather silent for some time, but I didn't think that…

Dangerous, deadly hot wrath bubbled up inside my body and I snapped.

"You murderers! You MONSTERS!" Didn't they care that they had the lives of innocent children on their conscience?! "I swear I will get out of here and then I will kill you all!" I glared at the persons donning the JIDA uniforms behind the safety glass – Kureto and the blond woman.

I had never wished for the death of someone, no matter how vile and evil; hence, I had never been able to truly comprehend how someone could want to kill another person, yet in this moment, I understood. I truly understood why people did it. I felt it… bloodlust and the deepest hatred I had ever felt. I wanted each and every one of these monsters here DEAD, but before that they would SUFFER. I wanted to rip all of them apart.

The doctors who pushed the syringes into my skin, Kureto who commanded them, the guys with the wheelchair, the woman who washed me, and the people who just stood by and watched. Each and every one inside of this accursed facility. I wanted them all dead! They deserved all a spot in the deepest part of Hell!

Still, my death threat had no effect and they injected me with the familiar liquid. I was powerless.

"Increase the dose," came Kureto's voice from the speaker and the doctors did as told. I screamed and screamed as the pain was even worse than usual and then everything suddenly stopped and I fell into the familiar abyss.

* * *

Shinya woke up in the hospital after... fighting someone? His memory was somewhat hazy, but he knew that he and his friends had been in trouble. They had tried to prevent the apocalypse. Guren visited him a few hours later to tell him everything: how Shinya and the other four had been seriously injured by Mahiru when they interrupted the ritual that she wanted to use to start the apocalypse, and how a virus had killed many people over the age of thirteen worldwide, and that the vampires had emerged from their hiding place and had taken human children with them.

Shinya couldn't believe that he had just slept through the literal apocalypse. That they had failed to prevent it and that Mahiru had died and replaced the demon in Guren's sword. Shinya had failed to save Vivian, her parents, her friends, everyone. Everyone, who was over the age of thirteen and didn't have a demon in their bodies like Shinya or most of the people from magical syndicates like the Order of the Imperial Demons or the Order of the Imperial Moon, was dead. All ordinary people the age of fourteen and above had been annihilated by the virus, that had been the result of Mahiru's ritual according to Guren.

Worry grew in his heart for his oldest friend and secret crush – he had done everything in his power to keep her a secret from his family, the leaders of the Order of the Imperial Demons – so Shinya charged his phone, that had gone out at some point, in the hopes of finding a message from Vivian on it. Shinya hoped that the soldiers of the Order of the Imperial Demons had evacuated her with all the other orphaned children close by to Shibuya or to Shinjuku, which was closer to her home, or that she was intelligent enough to stay at home, so she wouldn't get caught by vampires or killed by the Horseman of the Apocalypse, which had begun to turn up everywhere.

He didn't want to believe that she could have been affected by the virus; she had just turned thirteen years old two months ago.

When the phone was finally charged, Shinya saw that Vivian had indeed called him and had left him a message. Anxiously, with a pounding heart he listened to it. The phone line had still been working at that time, unlike now. The vampires had destroyed their means of communication.

The message was from the 25th of December – almost three weeks ago, right around the time when the virus had spread. Scared what he would hear, his heartbeat quickened, but Shinya wanted to know what had happened to her.

"Sh-Shinya-nii! No one is answering my calls somehow... I'm at a shopping centre. I-I'm trying to call for an ambulance, but... no one is answering! Shinya, everyone around me... they're all...!" Shinya could hear a sob on her end before she continued in that shaky and utterly scared tone that made Shinya's heart ache. "Kaori and Akira, too... t-they just... collapsed. There is blood everywhere... they're not breathing! I'm scared... What is happening?! Please call me back if you can and be okay, Shinya-n-," the message was cut off because it was getting too long.

"Oh God, Vivi-chan... You're alive..." Short-lived relief flooded through his body and mind that changed to sympathy and worry. She had seen the deaths of countless people and the deaths of two of her best friends from up close. Shinya never wanted her to see the dark side of humanity, which is why he had never told her her about his past or details about his life.

As soon as he was healthy enough to be out of his hospital bed, Shinya rushed down the stairs and left the building after informing his friends Goshi, Sayuri-chan, Mito-chan, and Shigure-chan who were fortunately all alive, too, about it. They all had demon weapons and superior healing abilities because of them, but it seemed that whatever Mahiru had done to them to knock them out prevented the demon from healing them. He couldn't remember what exactly had occurred, but Guren must have somehow saved them all. Said person was the one he ran into at the entrance of the hospital.

"Shinya?! What the fuck are you doing out of bed?! You're not well enough yet!" His friend stopped him and grabbed his arm to stop him from running outside.

"Guren! Vivi-chan is still out there somewhere! I'm sure that she survived the virus! I could hear her on voicemail after the outbreak," he informed his male best friend.

"Vivi-chan? Ah, that girl you like?" Comprehension dawned on Guren's face. Shinya had told his friends reluctantly about his crush after Guren had figured it out when he had caught Shinya staring at her picture on his prepaid phone a few days before the apocalypse. They all knew that they had to keep her a secret from the Hiiragi. Unlike them she was just a normal girl without any magic abilities.

"Psst! What if someone hears?!" They were inside a hospital that was staffed with people belonging to the Order of the Imperial Demons.

"Right... But you're not well enough yet to search for her. You can't go out there now. You're just going to get yourself killed, Shinya. Wait for a little longer until your body has properly healed... and then we'll all help you search for her."

"But-"

"No buts. You can't search for her if you're dead. She's smart for her age, isn't she?" Guren asked him.

"...She is."

"Then she'll be able to survive. Rest for a while longer until you're better. She would want the same for you, too, wouldn't she?" His friend eyed him sternly.

Shinya couldn't help but sink his eyes in shame... Yes, Vivi-chan wouldn't forgive him if he died while searching for her. She had explicitly told him not to die. He let Guren help him back into his room and bed.

 _'Soon, Vivi-chan. I'll find you. Stay strong for a while longer.'_

* * *

Almost a week later Shinya and his friends were well enough to go searching for Vivian and they left for Vivian's home in Shinjuku. The Hiiragi Clan had only pardoned the squad for betraying their Order of the Imperial Demons two days before the apocalypse, because they needed every capable man and woman with high-ranking demon weapons to fight against the vampires and to keep the Horsemen at bay. A barrier was being errected in Shibuya and in Shinjuku.

Shinya and his friends had left under the pretense of wanting to clear the area of enemies, which wasn't entirely a lie. They had to kill two Horsemen of the Apocalypse on the way to Vivian's apartment. Otherwise they made it there by car without any other disturbances.

Shinya figured that this was one of the places she could have gone to if she wasn't in the refugee camp in Shibuya or Shinjuku. They had searched in these places first and checked them, but Vivian wasn't there. Someone with her light hair colour would have gotten noticed, but no one had seen someone like her.

The electricity was still on in this part of the city, so Shinya didn't have a problem with entering Vivian's apartment – he knew the code to the electric door panel by heart. Shinya, Goshi, Mito, Sayuri, Shigure, and Guren searched for the blond girl, but it looked like no one was there... or had been there for a while.

Everything was orderly but slightly dusty. The beds of the family of three had been made and it didn't look like any supplies had been taken either. Shinya peered into the fridge to check if someone had added new things, but only found bad food. He put everything into a rubbish bag and took out the rubbish, too, to dispose of it when they left. Maybe Vivian would return to her apartment sometime...

With a heavy heart they left the place but Shinya left a message for her on the living room table – the one she had to pass to get to her room.

"Don't worry, Lord Shinya. I'm sure that girl is fine," Goshi patted him on the shoulder.

"I hope so..."

Shinya decided that the shopping centre was their next stop. He knew which one she had talked about on the phone because they had gone there for Karaoke once or twice and it was the closest one to her home.

He knew that the Demon Army wasn't done yet with disposing of the millions of corpses in the city and wouldn't be done in a while or ever... but to see the bodies of hundreds of people strewn on the ground, that was covered in puddles of dried blood, was truly an image out of a nightmare. They were lucky that it was in the midst of winter, so the bodies still were in a good condition and didn't smell or rot much... yet.

Sayuri began to cry at the sight, Mito had tears in her eyes, too. The faces of his other three companions were stony. They all felt guilty that they had been unable to prevent this.

"Your friend was right here when all these people died, Lord Shinya?" Sayuri inquired. Shinya just nodded with his lips pressed into a thin line.

"Damn. That's the worst place the girl could have been at at that time," Goshi mumbled, being careful not to step on a body. They were literally everywhere.

Shinya couldn't agree more. He didn't want to imagine what it was like for his younger friend to see the people all around her drop like flies and die in puddles of their own blood. Because he had failed to prevent the apocalypse. The teen balled his fists, continuing to look around for something, anything that pointed into Vivian's direction, but he found nothing.

Wait, she had said that she couldn't get through to call for an ambulance. If she wasn't able to call for help, she surely would have gotten it herself.

"I have an idea where she could be... Follow me," Shinya told his friends and left the building. The white-haired teen began to walk into the direction of the nearest hospital, his friends trailing behind him. Shinya thought that Guren was oddly silent, but didn't comment on it. He was beside himself, too. Then something crunched under his shoe and Shinya looked down to see that he had stepped onto a mobile phone; a very familiar one at that.

He bent down to take the blue phone with a plastic sword-strap from an anime series attached to it – it was Vivian's.

"Lord Shinya, is this...?" Mito peered at the small contraption in his hands.

"Yes, it's Vivi-chan's. I wonder why she let go of it... " Swiftly, they searched the surrounding areas, but could fortunately not find a corpse with blond hair. But they also didn't find signs of life.

He and the others took the car and drove down to the hospital Vivian had tried to reach, keeping their eyes closely on their surroundings. However, they didn't find anything else of her and the hospital was a dead end – literally. It had burned down and was in a very bad condition. It looked like a large transporter had crashed into the building... or maybe a horde of Horsemen. They were running all over the place since the apocalypse.

"Shit," Goshi cursed, voicing the mutual thought of the group. Shinya couldn't agree more. It felt as if he was in some kind of fever dream. He still couldn't believe that he lived in a post-apocalyptic world now and that Vivi-chan was somewhere in this nightmarish world, all alone... if she survived. No, she had to be alive!

"We should get back to Shibuya for now. It's getting dark and the street lights don't work properly in this area, so we won't be able to continue the search for today," Guren announced, talking for the first time ever since leaving Shibuya.

Shinya didn't want to stop searching, but he knew that his friend was right. Staying here any longer would endanger all of them. Some of the vampires could still be around. Had Vivi-chan been captured by them? No, Shinya didn't even want to think about it. What those bloodthirsty monsters could do to her...

"Fine," Shinya agreed.

The small group of humans took a different route on the way back and Shinya was spacing out as Goshi was driving, but then a familiar sight hit him.

"Stop the car, Goshi!"

The other teen was startled by his friend's outburst, but hit the break. Luckily, they had all worn their seatbelts. Shinya hurried out of the car and rushed to another one that he recognized. Inside, he found the bodies of two people who had always been very nice to him and who had treated him like their own son... Vivi-chan's parents. Kido Hayate and Irina. Their faces were covered in dried blood, especially around the eyes and mouth.

"Do you know these people, Shinya-sama?" Sayuri asked him with concern shining in her eyes. Next to her, Guren seemed to be staring at a nearby building.

"They're... Vivi-chan's parents. They always treated me well... Could you help me to...?" They had been more like parents to him than his own parents who had sold Shinya to the Hiiragi family when he was young to improve their own social standing.

"I'll help you to take out their bodies," Guren broke out of his thoughts and offered his help, which was another thing Shinya found strange. Perhaps he was just interpreting too much into it – Guren could be nice _if_ he wanted to.

The squad returned to Shibuya without Shinya's friend, but with the dead bodies of her parents in their car trunk.

* * *

 **A/N:** Thank you for reading this chapter! I would **love** some reviews. Are the chapters too long? Do you think I've kept everyone in character?

I hope you will return for the next chapter!


	4. Desolate World

****Disclaimer** :** I don't own Owari no Seraph, its plot or characters, or any other mentioned books, songs, or series. They belong to their respective owners. I only own my OCs and the plot that deviates from canon or doesn't exist in canon. This is a non-profit fan fiction just for fun.

 **Beta reader** : **haelyeon** ****  
****

****(!) Warnings: Somewhat suicidal, unhealthy thoughts, risky behaviour, romanticising and belittling death, and mentions of chronic illness (!)****

 **A/N:** Special thanks to **everyone** who favourited, followed or left a review! You rock! The reviews really motivated me and warmed my heart :) ! I also want to thank all my other readers! You might or might not have noticed it that I went back to the first three chapters and edited and changed some parts that I just didn't like anymore (I've written them over a year ago). These first four chapters were kind of the hardest for me to write because of the many time skips... so I had to go back and delete or adjust some things. For some reason I became more aware of my mistakes and weird or unreasonable parts that needed to be changed after uploading the story...¯\\_(ツ)_/¯

Like you can guess from the specifically put up warnings, this chapter will be somewhat dark and angsty... It's a post-apocalyptic world after all and Vivian isn't in the best place mentally, emotionally and physically... But it will get better eventually. Compared to others and the following chapters this one was a huge pain to write and I had to edit it a lot because the original version was just... no. Still, I hope you like where this story is going and enjoy the chapter! – **Saya Tsukihime**

* * *

 **Chapter 4 Desolate World**

The next time I opened my eyes, pure ivory surrounded me, as if everything was made of snow. I was standing on a vast surface, a cloudy grey sky looming above me. I... had I died again during the experimentation? I couldn't feel the pain, the anger, nor the deeply rooted hatred… I felt at peace and contented. It was similar to the feelings I had experienced in the World of Death before I had been reborn.

Puzzled, I glanced down at my hands and body – I still had them this time around. Did that mean I wasn't dead? Was this some kind of mindscape, similar to the one Yū has in the show?

Concerned, I searched the plane for any kind of trumpet or angelic figures, but there was nothing with the exception of the massive but intricate crystalline door; yet, I could feel someone's eyes on me as if I was being watched...

If I opened the door, would I get reborn again? I didn't want to be reborn. There were still things I wanted – had – to do here, I couldn't give up just like that after enduring so much. What should I do? Should I just wait here to see what would happened? But I have to make those monsters pay for what they did to me and other children!

"I want to kill them!" I yelled out, its echo seeming to fly far past the plane. As if in response to my demand, the crystalline door opened out of a sudden, just enough for one to slip through.

However, what if this was some kind of trap? An coercion for me to get reborn again?

Cautiously, I moved closer, so that I could peek past the slit. My eyes were straining to see through the murk, star-alike lights dimly illuminating the pathways; I recognized it as the World of Death.

Focusing my eyes once again, I was able to make out a familiar light that seemed to come closer… Was the Angel of Death coming to get me again? _'No, I don't want to get reborn yet! I still have things to do in this world!'_ I protested in my mind.

"I won't give up like this." I declared my stance to the… crystalline door?

…Maybe I had really stayed for too long in that cell if I was talking to doors and empty planes now? I doubted that I could be considered sane at this point even if the doctors had loosely monitored my mental health.

With a strike of defiance and bravery, I dared to touch the doors' handles and slammed it closed, shifting my entire weight against it to prevent the Angel of Death from coming through. For a while, nothing happened, even when I could feel the angel touching the door from the other side, trying to get through but somehow not succeeding.

"Stay away from me!" I didn't want the angelic being getting close to me. And once again, time passed before a pleasant but polar wind whirled across the plane. It acted as a harbinger, for the crystalline door began to get cracks, slowly fading piece by piece. For a moment, I surmised with great panic that the angel would be able to get to me. For all that, as the door crumbled to shards and splinters, the whole doorway to the World of Death seemed to disappear with it.

Now only the snowy plane remained and in the remains of the door on the ground, there was a glowing light left in its stead.

Had I successfully fended off the angel? I desperately hoped so. Another look around provided a reassuring answer: there was no one here but me.

I inspected the source of light in the heap of crystal shards and found a small, weirdly cone-shaped and translucent crystal that radiated faintly in a silvery-white light.

What was this? Why was this leftover from the door? At least it wasn't a trumpet... Would it give me some kind of power? Wasn't that how such fantastical and completely absurd things worked?

I was hoping for this all to just be a fever dream.

However, it wasn't as if my situation could get any worse at this point... right?

What would happen if I'd touch the crystal? Would I become a seraph? I didn't want to be one, I didn't want to risk endangering my friends, but... they weren't here. Maybe I could just borrow the power of that thing that was calling out to me for a while to get out of the facility? I was definitely desperate enough to try that now. The only way to find out what it would do, was to put my pondering into action.

Hesitantly, I reached out for it, and as soon as I touched the crystal, the wind started to howl again. A cold power surged through my whole body that reminded me of winter time in my home from my past life, but it didn't feel unpleasant. In fact, it was a comforting kind of cold, tranquil and otherworldly, yet it energized me somehow. The light of the crystal got brighter and brighter until everything faded away in the blinding light.

* * *

I woke up with a gasp in a dark place, and the first thing I checked was if I still was myself or if I had become a baby again. My hands moved hastily over my body. Yep, I was still me, Vivian. I let out my breath in a long sigh of relieve.

Noticing that something was hovering over me, I dazedly struggled against it until I realized that someone had placed some kind of cloth over me.

As soon as I took it off, a rather peculiar room greeted me, its light producing a dim and cold luminescence. Having seen a few crime series, I guessed I was in morgue.

There was just one sound explanation for why I was here: I must have temporarily died during the experimentation and they had brought me down here after that. Or had I really been dead and had been revived by touching that glowing... whatever that had been?

The urge to check if I was still alive was beaten by the fact that I could hear a soft, repeating sound; it was so silent I was able to hear my heartbeat.

Letting out a short sigh of relieve, I sat up; however, I was barely able to succeed as I felt a weight on my back holding me down. Confounded, I turned my head and saw something that almost left me in a stupor.

Staring back at me were two feathery appendages protruding from my back... I couldn't stop googling them in incomprehension.

Holy shit, did the scientists did succeed with their experiments, or was this my doing because I had touched that weird crystal thingy?

Was this the result?

...Did it really matter at this point, though? I could beat myself up for my stupidity later. Perhaps they could even help me escape. That was the reason why I had touched that suspicious crystal in the first place. Fact was, I had the things, but as attention-catching as they were, they weren't the most important issue at the moment.

Escaping from here was.

This was the first real opportunity I had in years. I looked down at myself. In a flimsy hospital gown without shoes and with _wings_. But I couldn't be picky. I had to take this chance. It might be my one.

Still, I wanted nothing but to kill these monsters called scientists, but even after getting revived by that crystal, I still felt weak. I barely had the strength to keep standing with the addition of the wings; though, they were not as heavy as their size suggested. But they were huge even in a slightly folded form and the tips of the feathers trailed over the ground. Something fluttered to the ground as I stood and I followed the motion with my eyes.

It was a small piece of paper that must have been placed on my stomach. I read over the message that was written on it quickly.

 _Stay put and pretend to be dead. We will get you out of here soon._

There was no name at the end and I didn't recognize the writing. For a second hope surged through me that this was perhaps a message from Shinya, that he had found out about me and that I was kept here by his adoptive family. But why hadn't he somehow made himself known to me? Even if it was just the drawing of a feather or a music note, an inside joke between us... any cryptic code... I would have probably figured out that it was from him.

...What if this message wasn't from Shinya at all, but from someone else that wanted to betray Kureto or the Hiiragi family for their own purposes and wanted a potential seraph for it? They had to have access to this facility, possibly even worked here... The new doctor popped up in my head. I had never seen him before and he had been very quick and sneaky with that first injection he gave me. Was he involved in this? Was he responsible for my state of apparent death? Had this been part of his plan to get me out of this facility?

Either way, I couldn't trust anyone here. And I wouldn't. I had lost all my faith in humanity here. Despite that, because there was a small possibility that it truly was from Shinya, I did the responsible thing and forced the paper down my throat so there wouldn't be any evidence that pointed to a helper in my escape.

There was no more time to contemplate everything. I had already wasted enough time here – I didn't know when someone would come to this room and discover that I was – actually – very much alive.

My revenge could wait until I was healthy and strong again... and when I had a solid plan. I didn't know if there would be another opportunity to escape after all.

Clutching my fists, I swore to myself that I would come back one day and take care of all the monsters here. Using the newly acquired muscles on my back, I managed to tug the wings as tight as possible to my back so they wouldn't impede my escape.

Being careful to not let my feet produce any sound, I opened the door and tiptoed in brisk steps down the corridor that led to the stairs and an elevator. Then, I paused for a moment for I didn't know where the exit was, seeing as there was no sign that showed the way. Still, I had to keep moving. I was sure that either the secret group of 'helpers' or someone who would try to cremate my body or whatever they did with them would come down to the morgue sooner or later…

The other kids… had they been brought here, too?

No, I couldn't think about them right now. It would only distract me. And they were long gone already.

I decided to take the stairs to the rooftop, maybe there was a fire escape that I could use, and if all else failed... I could try to put these accursed wings to some use.

Lingering down here and searching for the exit was too risky, I could walk into someone at any time.

* * *

I was exhausted when I finally reached the door that led to the rooftop, but I urged my body to move forward. This was most likely my only chance to escape, and I wouldn't waste it! With my remaining strength, I pushed against the iron door, opening it with a loud creak that made me cringe in surprise. I sincerely hoped that nobody had heard that.

As soon as I was outside, a strong gust of ice-cold wind tore at the feathers of my wings, the thin fabric of my hospital gown and my hair, that had gotten impossibly long during my imprisonment. Snow covered the ground, and the air was piercing cold. The feeling of snow under my bare feet was strangely soft and painful at the same time. I could already feel how my body and feet became numb as I began to shiver. I neared the edge of the rooftop to get a better image of where I was.

The building was many storeys high and stood on higher ground, so that I had a good view over the skyline of Tōkyō that laid behind a massive concrete wall, or rather, what was still left of the city. Many buildings, houses, and constructions were either sunken in, leaning towards one side, or partly destroyed as if something big had crashed into them. But I could still tell that I was in Shibuya.

It looked like I had been confined for a longer time than I had thought... I balled my fists in anger, which helped me move as I searched for a fire escape or a way to climb down the building. But the result of my franctic search was sobering.

There was nothing. No escape. I only had the fragile hope that the things on my back could carry me, but I wasn't desperate enough yet to throw myself from a building. Not when I had endured and survived for so long. My heart pounded rapidly in my chest, the pressure to find an escape was almost crushing me. I had to find another way down the building. There had to be _something_!

All of a sudden, the door to the rooftop opened and one of the men who had always injected me with that painful liquid mixture of someone else's seraph cells came out of the building. He had some kind of communication device in his hand that he held up to his mouth. My heart dropped in dread at the sight. They had found me already!

"I have found test subject 004! She is alive and up on the roof with me... She has the wings of a seraph but seems to be in control of herself! I need backup immediately!" he yelled into the black device, and then his eyes fell on me. There was a greedy gleam in them.

"Test subject 004, come over here. You're standing too far at the edge, you could hurt yourself," the man pleaded in a fake gentle tone. Yes, of course I would go back to them, when they always were so nice to me! Did he think that I had completely lost my mind because of all the torture and my temporary death?

The man slowly approached me, and I felt my anger return tenfold, replacing the instinctual fear I felt at the sight of one of my torturers. Anger was one of the feelings that kept me going through all of this.

"Don't come any closer! Tell me where the exit is or I will hurt _you_ this time!" I spat. No matter how weak I had gotten, I was confident that I could take on one unskilled man even with the addition of the wings.

The doctor didn't listen although he didn't dare to come closer because he knew what I had done to one of his colleagues... or he was wary of the wings and any other possible powers I had gotten together with them... Did I have any powers? I didn't feel any different apart from the wings.

"Calm down, test subject 004. Let's go inside where it is warm. We can talk about everything."

How dare him…! He didn't even bother to call me by my name, as if I wasn't even a person to him. I hated him and the others! All of them were vile monsters that didn't even deserve to be called 'human'!

"NO! I'm not your damn test subject!" They had stolen my life and freedom but I wouldn't let them steal my name, too!

I didn't have time for this, backup was coming soon – he was probably just stalling for time until they were here. I needed to find a way to escape! Frantically, my eyes searched for a way to escape, but I could only go back inside to the stairs and search for another way or… jump and try to fly. What if I took the doctor as a hostage, then maybe…

Noises were coming from the stairs. Crap, the backup was here too fast! I ran to the edge of the rooftop and desperately searched for a way to climb down. There was none.

Five more men had arrived. Four of them looked like military – the Japanese Imperial Demon Army, I recognized from the show – and another one was one of the doctors. There were too many for me to overwhelm. They would capture me and experiment on me. Again…

No! I refused to let that happen again, not when I finally had a chance to escape! But the soldiers were steadily coming closer, stepping over the snow on the ground.

"Come here. You can't escape, test subject 004. Give up. We need you as a weapon against the vampires," Hīragi Kureto admonished me. I had heard the researchers say Kureto's name a few times when he oversaw the experimentation so that was how I was certain of his name. The woman with blonde hair stood next to him with a stoic expression, like always.

I looked down at the ground that seemed so far away. I wouldn't survive a jump from this height if the wings didn't work. It was at least 70 meters to the ground. And another drop down to the level outside of the facility grounds. I turned back to the soldiers and then looked back to the ground that was so far away. I had to make a choice. Be captured and become their test subject again or… try my luck and jump.

I didn't want to die, but slowly rotting away… the never-ending pain of the experiments… anything was better. Yes, I had to take this risk. It was my only chance to get away. Staying in the labs would just prolong my suffering. Dying quickly by jumping from a building was probably the preferable option...

No, I would survive! I shouldn't think about dying. I had come this far and had survived until now – I would manage to do it again and see my friends again. I had to put my faith in these wings, in myself. I had somehow defied the Angel of Death once and I was determined to do it again even if my heart was about to give out out of fear and panic.

"You can shove that idea up your ass! Go to Hell!" I yelled in fury, and then I turned to the ground, cast all my doubts and fears aside, closed my eyes and... took the step over the edge.

My stomach dropped like at the time when I had ridden a rollercoaster as a moment of weightlessne overcame me before gravity took a hold of me. The wind was biting my skin but I forced myself to open my eyes and spread my arms as if they could help me to fly before I managed to do the same with my wings. It was probably for the best that my stomach was empty or I wouldn't have been able to keep the bile down.

Adrenaline pumped through my body and made my fall seem slower yet the ground was rushing at me at the same time. My head was suddenly completely empty but the rapid beating of my heart and the sound of my blood rushing through my body were impossible to ignore.

I was getting lightheaded and my vision became spotty but then... the wings captured the wind like a sail or parachute. In the next second I wasn't falling anymore but... gliding trough the air, flying. It was working.

This crazy shit was fucking working!

I was a good 20 meters above the ground now. Still baffled that I was suddenly flying instead of falling, I just looked down at the ground that flew by for a few seconds until I snapped out of my daze. I had to get away, the faster the better.

With the images of a flying bird (my love for owls came in handy) in mind, I tried to beat my… wings… to gain more speed and height. It was a bit difficult and exhausting, but somehow I succeeded.

The cold, strong wind lifted me high up into the sky. I was glad that I wasn't afraid of heights and had loved things like drop towers at amusement parks – much to the horror of my friends, apart from Kaori or Shū – though this was an entirely different thing.

In the distance I heard a loud and enraged shout from an angered Hīragi Kureto. "The experimentation was a partial success so get her back, hurry!" It was music to my ears.

A hysteric laugh escaped me because I had finally managed to get away from them and escape, thwarting their plans at the same time... Utter satisfaction and relief cursed through me even though it may be too early for that.

But for now, I let my relief win and swore to myself that I would never be their test subject again.

Somehow. I would make sure of that.

Just in case, I looked back. The experimentation building was already a good distance away, and I couldn't see the soldiers standing on the rooftop anymore. Still, I wanted to get as much distance between me and them as I could. Who knew if they would try to shoot me from the sky or pursuit me with a helicopter to get their precious 'seraph' back.

Was I even a seraph? Yes, I had wings, but they looked nothing like the one Yū had had... or would get? My wings weren't black, they were... ghostly. There wasn't a better term to describe them. They were colourless, white or silvery at most, almost completely translucent, and had almost no visible structure. Aside from their appearance, the wings emitted a faint, silvery-white light, like the crystalline door or cone in my... mindscape.

Morbid curiosity driving my mind, I carefully touched some of the feathers. They felt… sturdy, fluffy and soft like the feathers of a bird, despite their phantasmal appearance.

Weird. This was really weird.

Well, at least they worked... somehow. The laws of physics in this world were definitely different.

Did the Demon Army or whoever else was behind the experiments succeed in making me a seraph or was this my doing by touching that crystal? Although I had some kind of wings now… I was still myself and could think rationally without wanting to murder all of humanity (if you didn't count the ones I had sworn to take my revenge on).

I hadn't seen any angels – just that familiar Angel of Death who had tried to get me – nor ominous trumpets when I was inside my mindscape either. With a lot of imagination the crystal might have resembled the beginnings of a misshaped trumpet though...

Perhaps they succeeded only partly, like Kureto said? I would go with that answer for now. I had more important things to think about. First, I had to find shelter somewhere before I died of hypothermia or my muscles clenched up and I fell to death.

Water, food, and clothes were also on the top priority list. I couldn't stay in the air for much longer, I was already exhausted and close to my limits. The muscles in my back and body were quivering and screaming in pain.

I flapped my ghostly wings again a few times to glide farther through the biting cold sky. Other than that I had no idea what I was doing or how to turn left or right… I flew in a perfectly straight line... Which was not very prudent. It would make it easier for my pursuers to follow me. I had to adjust my direction soon.

I gazed at the destroyed city that lay below me and tried to orientate myself while I flew through the cloudy sky. I flew over quite a few convenience stores but didn't stop there. They had most likely already been scavenged by the survivors of the apocalypse because they were easy to access. No, I needed something bigger... like a shopping centre. I shuddered at the reminder of my last visit to one, but it would have everything I needed.

I clenched my teeth and continued my journey, keeping a lookout for eventual pursuers and places to get my supplies from.

Snow covered the ground and the rooftops of the buildings I passed. And there, in the distance, I finally saw a skyscraper I recognized. The one I had hoped to come across. It was a tall building with all sorts of high class stores I had visited once with my parents to buy a dress for my piano performance.

I was in an entirely different part of Tōkyō now and there were still no pursuers. Hopefully, that was far enough away from the Demon Army for now. However, the building had seen better days... It was dangerously tilted to one side, most of the windows were shattered, and it stood in a sinkhole. Earthquakes of varying magnitudes were common here in Japan and if one didn't maintain the buildings or streets, even the quakeproof buildings wouldn't last forever.

Which was exactly what had happened here.

Plus, there were also Horsemen of the Apocalyspe roaming around, that further destroyed the buildings and streets in search for their prey.

The lower floors of the small skyscraper looked completely unstable and were partially inaccessible. Any sane person wouldn't take a step into it... from the bottom. The higher floors were in a _slightly_ better condition so my decision was made. It was improbable that the building would collapse during the short time I was planning to spend there.

Now I just had to figure out how I would be able to land on the rooftop.

I thankfully knew the motions a bird performed when landing because of my love for owls so perhaps I could attempt to imitate it like that? I glided down to the building I was aiming for by slightly trying to adjust my wings.

How could I further decelerate my speed? And how could I fly in another direction? I had no choice but to try it out. Didn't birds use their tail to navigate or to land? I didn't have that, but the lower part of my wings should be able to do just as well – the feathers there were kind of fanned out, like a bird's tail.

I clumsily flailed different parts of my wings to find out which muscles did what. At first, it was hard – like trying to move each of your toes individually – but soon I got the hang of it, found the right muscles and could control the movements of my wings somewhat like I could control my toes. It was not very exact, but better than nothing.

Unfortunately, I had to make a turn, as I had already passed the building I wanted to land on. I made a round turn to the left and started to circle the building, slowing down and decreasing my height in the process as far as I was able to. My pulse shot up again... take-offs and landings were the most accident-prone times during the flight with an airplane. Well, I wasn't an airplane...

I could only hope that I would be able to do this without breaking any bones; maybe the snow would cushion my fall. Hopefully. I had no other choice than to land...

As soon as my speed started to drop, I flapped the wings in a rearwards movement to decelerate even further.

My body was nearing the ground… and then I made contact with my feet. I slid and slipped one or two meters until I came to a shaky halt in the snow on the rooftop – face first. I was lucky there was snow on the building or I really would have hurt myself. Now I would just get some minor bruises.

All in all, everything had gone better than I had expected. The landing could have been a little more comfortable though... I waited for a few moments until my heart had calmed down and my breathing was regular again. In due course, I got up on my knees and shook out my wings once more before I folded them close behind me as I stood up.

Carefully, I attempted to balance myself on my numb feet while I took a step forward, clearing the snow from my hospital gown; however, the wings were dragging over the ground if I just let them hang. I had to pull them up high and tight to my back to prevent that.

It was really straining, and I was sure I couldn't do it for much longer until I had no power anymore. Some of my muscles were already quivering from exhaustion because of the unusual strain. Or was it from the cold?

Now that I thought about it, why wasn't I freezing anymore in the thin hospital gown and without shoes despite my shivering? My limbs were turning a sickly violet-blue colour... It had to be the midst of winter and really cold, but I felt warmer than a few minutes ago. Almost too warm. And I was oddly clumsy and drowsy. Shit, weren't those signs of hypothermia or was it just exhaustion and the cold? Nothing of that was good... I had to hurry up and get warm or I could lose some toes or fingers or get damage to my organs.

My stomach growled loudly and I mentally added another request on my to-do list, needing something to eat and drink, too. I made my way to the door that led inside the building, my hand shakily pushing down the rusty handle. Luckily, the door opened without much protest.

It was pitch-black inside and the only light source came from the open exit. I supported myself on the wall while I descended the tilted stairs in stiff motions.

I noticed that my wings provided a small light in darker sections. For some inexplicable reason, they were somehow self-luminous... How strange. Then again, having wings in the first place wasn't normal either.

I was a true freak of nature now, more than I had already been. _They_ had turned me into something inhuman with their experiments.

I cast the unhelpful thoughts away for now.

After what felt like an eternity, I was at the luxury food floor. I needed heat more than food at the moment, but I couldn't be picky. At least it was warmer in the building than outside. Without further ado, I searched the isles for canned food because everything else had most likely gone bad. I was sure that I had been in that Demon Army facility for a few years.

In the shelves I found a few bottles of water, some canned fruits, vegetables and other things, like canned bread that was still good. After I had eaten my meal, I placed many cans and water bottles inside shopping bags and made my way down to the cosmetics and healthcare department that was right underneath.

A closer look at the stairwell showed that a large portion of it in the lower floors had been destroyed by something large, which would explain why there was still food here and why not much had been looted yet. The building must have become inaccessible quickly after the apocalypse had occurred. No one without a death wish would enter the building from the ground anymore... which was good for me.

But I probably shouldn't go too far down either... Some parts of the stairs didn't look very trustworthy.

I searched for heat plasters, self-heating pads, a battery powered heated blanket, an emergency blanket, toiletries I would need on my travels, a flannel and two towels, scissors, safety pins, hair ties, and a hairbrush. Once I had acquired everything, I went down to the clothing stores that had winter clothes on display.

I sat the bags on the ground and started looking for clothes. The underwear came first and I found a bra which was meant to be worn under neck halter dresses or the like – I would be able to easily wear it with my wings protruding from my back. Obviously, I had lost a little weight, muscles and fat since the illness had started a few weeks ago, so I needed a smaller size. I took two of the same model, a three-pack of panties and long underwear with me.

A dark blue turtleneck pullover that screamed Christmas also came with me – I would have to cut out the back with the scissors though. I would do the same with the long undershirt. Lastly, I picked up a thick pair of trousers to wear underneath the pullover and two pairs of socks.

Together with my newly acquired possessions, I went into the bathroom on the same floor. It had two small windows that provided enough light. It was time to get cleaned as quick as possible, so I could put on the heat plasters and new clothes. My body screamed at me for sleep, but I had to get rid of everything that reminded me of the facility first. I couldn't stand the sterile smell of it anymore that clung to my body, or the scratchy gown that had been drenched in my sweat and was damp and frozen stiff in places.

But first, I needed a toilet. I went into one of the stalls… and encountered a new problem. My wings prevented me from sitting down. What should I do now...?

Raking my brain for ideas, I sat down with my back to the open stall door, unconventional, but it worked. Fortunately, there still was enough toilet paper in the stall. I seriously didn't know what people in a post-apocalyptic world did without toilet paper.

Maybe they used newspapers and... leaves to wipe?

Or they could just use water if it was available. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case for me since the flush and sinks didn't work, but I had anticipated that. Closing the drain of the sink with its plug, I poured the water of one of the two litre bottles I had taken with me inside it after cleaning the whole thing and my hands quickly with soap. The ripped hospital gown and my old underwear were discarded with relieve, and I used the flannel and scented shower gel to clean myself. I dried my body with the larger of the two towels. It was heavenly that I did not get cleaned by someone else and didn't smell like a hospital patient anymore.

I proceeded to comb through my long, lustreless hair, that had gotten really tangled during the flight. My side swept fringe had grown out over time and my hair had gotten much too long for my tastes, but I had never cut my hair by myself before. Deciding that it was of no priority, I just wet my hair with fresh water and carefully shampooed it. Once I had washed out the shampoo and the last knots with it, I combed the hair into the hairstyle I had had before the apocalypse.

The only difference was that it now went down to my thighs.

When I was done, I wrapped the smaller towel around my hair. I had noticed in the mirror that I looked sickly; there were dark shadows under my eyes and my collarbones showed slightly. The bones in my face were also more prominent though I hadn't lost too much weight because of my illness yet – my subtle muscles from my constant exercise wouldn't vanish that fast.

My figure had become more womanly during my time spent in captivity, and I had grown a bit, but I had looked much healthier before; after all, the researchers had made sure that I always got all the vitamins and nutritions I needed so that I would be in best condition for their experiments. Those things couldn't entirely satisfy the need for sunlight, fresh air, sports (though I had gotten a treadmill for cardio-exercises, so my body and heart stayed strong for the injections because they had noticed that the fitter children survived longer) as well as mental and emotional support.

That facility had sucked the life out of me...

The arms looked the worst. Bruises in different sizes and colours covered almost the entire surface of my skin. There were ugly scars from the big needles they used to inject the substances with, too. Faint, dark lines ran underneath the skin of my arms where the substances must have gone through. It looked really gruesome, making me purse my lips in disgust.

My skin tone had always been on the lighter side, but now it was really pale and sickly, almost greyish with a faint white glow underneath that was most likely a by-product of the wings. Speaking of which… I bundled my last muscle power and opened them up to get a better view of them inside the mirror.

I stretched the translucent pinions as high and far as I could and estimated that they had a span of at least six meters and almost touched the ceiling. They were huge but at the same time incredibly thin.

I noticed that there were long feathers pointing to the ground and sides that kind of resembled a bird's tail. It must have been those that had made me able to navigate. They were actually a separate, smaller pair of wings that slightly overlapped the other pair.

So, I didn't have only two but four wings, huh? Weird, but also really interesting... At least they had helped me escape.

When I had stared at them in an odd mixture of resentment and awe for long enough, I put on the bra, which was a bit complicated because I had to close it at my neck and at my lower back right underneath the wings but I managed. I cut off the tags from the clothes, as well as cut out the back of the pullover and put everything on together with the heat plasters.

Ah... warmth.

At last, I secured the ends of the pullover underneath my wings with the safety needles.

I would look for shoes later – too exhausted to walk another pair of stairs. In fine, I brushed my teeth with fresh water from one of the bottles and went back into the section with winter coats. They were placed in one of the corners that were away from the glass windows – some of them were shattered – to made a makeshift bed that resembled a nest. In a last effort I opened the towel and ruffled through my hair, drying it as well as possible, and plaited my impossibly long hair so it wouldn't be knotted when I woke up.

I settled tiredly down in my bed and laid down on my belly, having already reached a state past exhaustion. I turned my head to the windows before I stretched out the wings over myself like a blanket. I put the self-heating pads between my feet, specifically to my toes, and held one of them in my hands before I turned on the battery-powered heating blanket. At last, I laid the heat-reflective emergency blanket over it; and, slowly, I was beginning to get warm again. It was almost sundown now. I would decide what I would do from now on after a good sleep. It only took me seconds to fall asleep.

* * *

I woke up disoriented, but surprisingly well-rested and warm. Drowsily, I looked around until my memory came back. I had finally escaped that hellhole and I was alive... but all the others weren't.

Finally, tears welled up in my eyes as the emotions I was too fordone to feel before came to the surface.

Guilt, happiness, hope, and hatred was a weird mix to feel. Guilt, because I was the only one who survived those experiments and escaped before punishing those beasts who killed the other children.

Those fiends that called themselves doctors were also the subject of my hate. Because of people like them, the apocalypse somehow occurred in first place, and many people had to suffer by their hands or because they lost their family members and their friends.

And their normal life, including me.

On the other hand, I had escaped and was able to search for my friends now. All the suffering and dark hours spent in isolation had been worth it. Over the years, I had accepted that Akira and Kaori had died in front of my eyes. My beloved parents, my first childhood friends Emi and Kenta, my grandparents and classmates…

They have most likely passed as well. I had remembered that in the show, the virus was deadly for most people over the age of thirteen. Was that the case here, too? However, Shinya-nii was a special case. I was sure that he had appeared in the show years after the apocalypse (which was the reason for my many déjà vu with him), but he was some high ranking official of the Imperial Demon Army. I would not go back there again so soon.

Still, I was hoping for him to be okay and that I didn't just run away from my only surviving best friend if he was the one who had sent me the message.

Even if Shinya didn't know about the experiments his adoptive family were conducting, he was a member of the military and out of my reach now. As soon as I was able to, I would take him away from them... somehow. Asking him if he knew what despicable things the Demon Army did should be a good start.

There was still hope for Mako-chan and Shū, though. They could still be in Nagoya. After all, they had been only eleven and ten years old when the apocalypse occurred. Contemplating, I decided to go to Nagoya and look for them first.

I wiped away my last tears and stood up. It was still dark outside and even darker in the warehouse, if not for my wings lighting the way for me. They felt better like my whole body since I had slept and had gotten warm, yet I felt weaker and somehow sick, and there was a light pain in my chest that didn't go away. At least I hadn't coughed up blood again... yet.

I used the light the wings provided to guide myself through the semi-darkness and started my day with a breakfast of canned food. Afterwards, I did some light morning exercises to loosen up my somewhat sore muscles and went to the bathroom. I needed a rucksack and some more survival supplies (a small pot, spoon and chopsticks, two multi-purpose knives, matches, a tripod, can opener, disinfecting wipes, some first aide things, boots, a camping mat, compass, and map), which could be found two floors down.

I also found a grey multifunction coat that I could wear the other way round. Before I walked back up, I also took a beanie, gloves, ski mask, a pair of binoculars, and ski goggles with yellow lenses with me to protect my eyes from snow or rain. I would look ridiculous, but at least I wouldn't get cold again.

Next, I stowed the cans of food and a bottle of water together with the other utensils I had used yesterday away in the huge camping backpack and also grabbed two rolls of toilet paper out of the stalls. Then I pulled on the boots and coat (I closed it up to my wings at the back), re-braided my hair and put on the rest of the winter clothes. Lastly, I put on the backpack… backwards, over my chest and closed its buckle at my lower back, now nothing would fall down or cause problems during flight even if I would look funny.

But that wasn't important at the moment.

I was ready to take off and ascended the stairs up to the roof. With the help of a compass and map I ascertained my travel path. It would be easiest to follow the Tōkaidō-Sanyo-Shinkansen train rails south-west, roughly along the east coast of Japan. That way, I wouldn't get lost and could make several stops at the cities that lay on the way to Nagoya.

For a few minutes I watched my surroundings closely with my binoculars to be sure that none of the Japanese Imperial Demon Army or anyone else for that matter was around.

Nothing. It was a silent night.

I packed the compass, map, and binoculars into the front pouch of my backpack, put on the goggles and stretched my wings to their full size.

This time I took a run-up instead of simply jumping down the building, and then I was airborne again, flying towards the train station. Adrenaline from the jump cursed through my body and made my flaps stronger, yet the muscles in my back ached under the strain. Keeping my body taut for an extended amount of time wasn't very comfortable either. Once more I was glad that I had exercised during my captivity.

I flew high up into the sky, strong gusts of wind supporting me, and flew at an even but fast pace when a thought hit me. My locket with the pictures of my family… it was still at home inside my jewellery box. I had forgotten to wear it on the day of the apocalypse.

Could I risk taking a small detour for something of sentimental value?

The apartment was near the train station… and in an entirely different direction than the one I had escaped to from the facility. Would they check my apartment? The researchers had done a mental evaluation on me and knew that I was smart for my age. They also had my student I.D. that showed my school year. Surely, they didn't think that I was dumb enough to return to my apartment... at night above that.

'The night belongs to the vampires.' Those had been their own words.

I opted to take the gamble, no matter how dumb it was. My locket held the only pictures with all of my friends and I, together with mum and dad's, and I didn't think that I would have the opportunity to return home ever again.

A few minutes later, I landed on the rooftop of the building. It was worse for wear – especially in the lower and middle floors many windows were shattered because another building had partly crashed into it. My old apartment was on one of the upper floors – I seemed to have some incredibly luck for now.

Once again I had to use the stairs. I stayed as silent as possible and listened for any kind of movement in the night, but I couldn't hear anything, so I proceeded. And then, I stood in front of the door of my old home. The door could be opened with a pin – it was electric – but because there was no electricity anymore and the emergency back-up batteries in the lock hadn't been replaced in over a year, the door opened just like that. I closed the door behind me… and entered my old home.

"I'm back home," the whispered words left my lips. I didn't dare speaking out loud.

The first thing I noticed was that everything looked almost the same – if you ignored the layer of dust – as it had when I had left it in the late morning of the 25th of December in the year 2012. There were footsteps in the dust though, as if someone had been here recently... but not recent enough to be just a day old, so they didn't belong to the JIDA's soldiers.

Perhaps mum and dad had come back? My hopes went up, but then I found a note on the table in the living room and picked it up. This one was definitely from Shinya – I recognized the handwriting.

 _Vivi-chan, if you are reading this, please stay where you are. My friends and I come by to check your place every Friday, so it will be safest if you stay at home. There are enough supplies in your kitchen to last you for a week. We'll come and pick you up and take you with us to Shibuya where_ _it's_ _safe. Be okay and stay safe._

Followed by an absurd looking emoji. ( ͡~ ͜ʖ ͡°)

Shinya loved those things.

My heart tightened painfully at the thought that my friend had been waiting for me for... years? Most likely he had searched for me, too. But... I couldn't go back. I couldn't return with him to Shibuya, no matter how much I wanted to see Shinya again. His adoptive family had been experimenting on me and other children for years there, and if he brought me back, they would just continue and Shinya might even get involved in it. Now that I had found this note, I was even more glad that I hadn't trusted the other one... who knew who would have taken me with them.

I was certain now that Shinya didn't know what his family had been doing to me behind his back – maybe they even had been doing it out of spite because they knew that I was Shinya's friend and somehow got wind of me, even though I had never met them. Kureto was surely capable of doing something evil like that. I held no love for that cold monster.

Tears of desperation threatened to escape my eyes at the thought of not being able to see my friend again even if he could be so close depending on which day it was, but I quickly blinked them away. There was no time for crying now. Every second I stayed in this apartment was a huge risk.

I wanted to write Shinya back, but if Kureto's soldiers came to this place to search for me, which they surely would sooner or later, that could get him in danger. If they didn't find me, they might suspect Shinya of hiding me and torture him to get information out of him, even if he didn't know anything.

They had let him experience horrible things when he was younger, after all, and they didn't seem to have any morals... No matter how much I wanted to see my friend again, I couldn't risk it, for both our sakes.

With a pained heart I took the letter with me and swiped the dust on the floor around to cover all the tracks of Shinya and his friends and at the same time made it look as if my wings had done that. They were big enough to wipe over the ground after all. When I was done with that, I picked up all the supplies Shinya had left me in the kitchen and put them into a shopping bag before I made sure that there was no other evidence left that pointed to other people frequenting this place.

Finally, I went to my parent's bedroom to check if they had maybe survived the virus and had gotten out of here. I opened the closet… everything was still there, nothing had been moved. I stared at everything for a moment before I turned around and left the room. It was too depressing to think that they had never made it back here.

I went over into my room, suppressing the tears again that came with a flood of emotions. The window in my room had shattered and the glass was laying on the floor. The room was a bit worse for wear, but that didn't matter to me right now. I opened the jewellery box with the small key that was hidden inside my bedside table next to the bed and held my breath.

The locket was still there and looked the same as I remembered it. It had been safe from the air and weather inside the almost airtight box.

I opened it with shaky hands and looked at the two pictures… I had to hold back my bittersweet tears the third time within a few minutes. For a short while I looked at it, indulged in reminiscences of easier and happier times with my family and friends…

With great care, I put it on and tucked it safely under my clothes. There wasn't anything else I could take with me… aside from a small flashlight that still worked. I had forgotten to take one with me at the shopping centre.

Then, I was ready to continue my journey – I couldn't stay here for too long, who knew when the Demon Army would search for me here. With a last glance at my parent's room, I left my old home with Shinya's supplies and letter and closed the door one final time. The familiar sound echoed loudly in the silence of the night.

When I was about to open the door to the rooftop, I could hear voices of some men in the stairwell. Shit, they were already here and in the middle of the night above that...! The JIDA soldiers must have waited close by or had spotted me from the ground. My pulse fastened and I ran quickly over the roof before I jumped into the air again.

That had been too close for my taste. I only relaxed once I had left Tōkyō behind for good.

* * *

I made my next stop for the night in Fuji, a city that was situated at the foot of Mount Fuji, shortly after the sun had risen. I had made a break in Ebina, Odawara and Mishima on the way to relax my taut muscles and warm myself up. Violent coughs were shaking my whole body as I sat on the rooftop of a former school.

I was utterly exhausted and coughed up some blood again. Flying through the cold air wasn't helping my health at all. I had hoped that in the last weeks in which I had gotten weaker and weaker that it was just because the procedures were finally affecting my body negatively, in addition with the suspicion that I was most likely the only one left. That the stress had just gotten to me.

However, it seemed that this was far more than a short phase of physical and mental exhaustion, in the worst case I was slowly dying already. The coughed up blood and never fading pain inside my chest spoke bands.

Just when I had finally escaped after all this time, my body had to give up. To say that it frustrated me would be an understatement. It meant that I would have to prioritize either getting revenge on the JIDA or searching for Mako-chan and Shū – at least I knew that Shinya was fine. I had probably only enough time to do one of the two options.

Obviously, searching for Mako-chan and Shū was far more important than getting revenge. In my state I couldn't fight against a military organization in the first place. It weighed heavily on my mind that those… vile bastards… who tortured and killed children to satisfy their thirst for power would get away with it, and I wanted to let them pay for what they did to them and the rest of humanity, but finding living people – my remaining family – was more important than fighting for the dead. Even if it pained me beyond belief to give up my personal vendetta.

After my coughing fit was over, I wandered down into a room where the windows were still intact and opened a can to eat before I took a nap. Once I had replenished my energy, I packed my things and got ready to continue my journey.

I did stay on high ground the whole time because it was easier to take flight from higher ground and the most important reason was that I had seen some Horsemen of the Apocalypse from the sky.

Seeing them in an animated show was one thing, but seeing them in real life…

That was some really scary shit I didn't want to deal with.

I couldn't even watch horror films, so I definitely couldn't face real life monsters either if I had the choice. Needless to say, I never ever wanted to see them from up close. I didn't even have a weapon to fight them with.

Sure, I could have taken my wooden sword with me, but it wouldn't be of any use against them or someone with a real weapon. I should have insisted harder that I was old enough to handle a real katana a few years ago, perhaps my parents would have gotten me one for my birthday...

What was done was done. I flew high up into the cloudy sky towards Nagoya, the rails of the Shinkansen-line far below me.

* * *

Sometime after sundown, I was nearing Nagoya. I used my binoculars to search the ground for any threats while flying high over the city. It seemed as deserted as many other cities; however, there were signs that indicated that people lived here – the parks were well maintained.

I didn't know who did that. If there were some people from the JIDA that lived here… or vampires (I excluded normal people who didn't have an affiliation with either, because there was just no way that someone would care how the parks looked in a post apocalyptic world). I watched the ground closely while I was getting closer to Mako-chan's home. After I was certain that there was no one and nothing in the area, I flew down and landed at the street in front of Mako-chan's house, anxiety gnawing at my heart.

I surveyed my surroundings again, but there was no one here. With a thumping heart, I walked up to the front door of the traditional Japanese house that was slightly ajar.

Cautiously, I stepped inside. The wooden floor creaked ominously under my boots.

"Mako-chan? Shū? Anyone?" I called for them in hushed tones, disturbing the silence.

As silent as I could, I extracted the flash light from my backpack to provide more light. I knew that the possibility that they were still here was slim, but I had to start somewhere. I just thought that I'd have more time for it… I suppressed another cough. I skulked through the dark and deadly silent house that looked as if it had been left in haste.

The last room I went to was Mako-chan's. Some drawers were left wide open, and, similar to the kitchen, it looked like someone had just grabbed the first things that could be found and had made a run for it. Makoto and Shū were long gone, where I didn't know. There were no clues that pointed in a certain direction. I sighed in desperation and sank down to the ground.

This time around, I couldn't suppress the coughs that left me wheezing and with bloody hands.

The tears of desperation I had suppressed until now came, and I finally broke down in sobs. I didn't know if I could find them in a short time or ever again for that matter, and above all I feared for their well-being.

They had been nothing more than children when the world ended… were they able to support themselves somehow?

This world had become very dangerous… with monsters roaming the earth – especially hunting for children – then there were people that experimented on children, and of course the vampires, who wanted their blood. Had they captured them? Were Makoto and Shūsaku inside a vampire city right now?

I had made so many plans when I was in that cell, but that was when I was still healthy… Now I could either start searching for my friends at random for the next weeks or months (if I even had that much time left) while evading the JIDA, or…

During my confinement I had thought over every possible step I could take and came to the conclusion that if I wanted to destroy the JIDA, or rather their 'research facility', the ones with the most interest in that would be… the vampires. I almost laughed out loud at that thought. I knew from the show that they viewed humans as nothing more than livestock that supplied them with blood.

But who else could fight against the JIDA?

Sooner or later, the Demon Army would have another seraph... which couldn't be good. If they somehow brought another apocalypse upon us because they couldn't control the seraph (I had heard vague whispers about that in the labs)… If something like that happened again, Mako-chan, Shū and Shinya might not be able to live in that world anymore.

At least the vampires would let them live, wherever they were now, and wouldn't destroy the earth even further… Because they needed human blood and didn't have any other desires, no desire for power like humans. They were easier to predict.

I could provide the vampires with information on the experiments of the JIDA and some of their main key players in high positions, and at the same time, I could look for Mako-chan and Shū in their cities. And concerning Shinya, maybe I could make some kind of deal with the vampires to ensure his safety as well…

Nagoya was close to Kyōto, where the vampires resided, so it was a possibility that my two younger friends had been taken there. In my opinion searching there sounded better than randomly searching for them with limited time.

I had ransacked my brain and had gone over the plot of the series over and over for that. Although I hadn't watched the second season yet before I had died, I knew some of the things that happened in it because one of my friends had given away a part of the plot and I had also read random spoilers myself. I knew that the majority of events would occur in the year 2020, but I couldn't tell vampires about that, who would even believe me?

But there were enough other things I had come to know while being kept in that facility…

There was no guarantee that the vampires wouldn't kill me on sight though, because my wings weren't really inconspicuous, but I was desperate. I couldn't think of another way. I wouldn't be able to find Makoto and Shūsaku or kick the asses of those evil scientists into Hell and eliminate a threat for my friends in the process with the limited time I had.

I knew that I couldn't trust the vampires either, but what choice did I have? Maybe I was just selfish because I didn't want to die alone on the road, being useless and achieving nothing now that I had escaped. Yes, most likely, I wanted to do those things, wanted that satisfaction, because I didn't want my existence to mean nothing in the end and having suffered in vain for years.

Giving the vampires information about the JIDA and getting permission to search for Shū and Mako-chan in their cities was the only thing I could do in my condition, or at least that was what my feeble mind told me. Maybe I had really gone mad during my imprisonment. Betraying my own race… but didn't they betray me first?

A grim smile spread over my face. Well, at least the vampires would kill me quickly or, in the worst case, suck me dry. They wouldn't torture me for years on end (not that I thought I had even that long left).

Die with a bang, right? Perhaps I could do that.

* * *

 **A/N:** If you're worried after this chapter because of the whole seraph/wing thing going on, don't be. Vivian won't get any more non-canon powers that she can use to kick ass. Even if it might seem that way at the moment, she won't become OP and magically save the world either. Let me know what you think! :)


	5. The Enemy Of My Enemy (Part 1)

******Disclaimer** :**** I don't own Owari no Seraph, its plot or characters, or any other mentioned books, songs, or series. They belong to their respective owners. I only own my OCs and the plot that deviates from canon or doesn't exist in canon. This is a non-profit fan fiction just for fun.

 **Beta reader: haelyeon**

 **To _AkazawaIzumi_** **because I couldn't PM you** : Hello to you too~! Shouldn't we all do something more productive than to lurk around here (I know I do, but... oh well) xD I'm really happy to hear that you liked my story so far and found my writing style acceptable! Your review put a huge smile on my face (*´∀`*) I always worry about everything because I'm kind of a perfectionist, so reading your kind words was very reassuring.

Yeah, I completely agree with you that Vivian should have recognized the signs sooner even if she just watched the first season and didn't research all the characters... Her subconsciousness was trying to warn her with the déjà vu (thinking that Shinya looked like an anime character, the white plush tiger, the news report about demon child Yu on TV that made her uneasy, Shinya's freakish sword skills and strange family background, the unusual hair/eye colours) again and again but she just didn't... _listen_ to it and ignored the signs (her unhealthy habit of dealing with some unpleasant things), so she could continue to live her new life just as she liked it. It's funny that this point will be addressed in this chapter...

And don't apologize for your rambling, I love all reviews, specifically the lengthy ones and those that question or criticise things or give me food for thought!

 **To all of my dear readers** : Feel free to criticise me (in a review or via PM) if the characters and their actions get too OOC or if something just doesn't make any sense at all (and give me suggestions on how you would improve it if you want), so I can adjust it and make this story a better read for everyone :D

 **A/N: Once more, a big thank you to everyone who followed, favourited, or reviewed, and to everyone who has read this far!** The chapters will be shorter from now on.

Finally, more canon characters will show up... Read and find out who it is :)

* * *

 **Chapter 5 The Enemy Of My Enemy (Part 1)**

I had slept late into the morning, and I was thinking of flying to Kyōto during the day. Since I have been resting my body in Makoto's home, it should have regained enough strength. Though, having nobody to talk to for days to end was starting to affect me as well.

I didn't want to admit it, but I had gotten cold feet – I was scared shitless and incredibly anxious about going to the vampires – and had contemplated my future plans again.

Doubts were still lingering, but I had decided that Krul was my best bet; however, not only because she was _the_ Vampire Queen of Japan, rather because I also knew her the best out of all vampires in the series, right after Mika and Crowley.

Which didn't say that much, seeing how my knowledge of Owari no Seraph was rather sparse and random.

But she had kept the orphans, the seraphs, for some reason instead of killing them, despite it being a threat to her. Which gave me hope for myself – she had probably needed them for something so maybe – hopefully – she would need me, too. Though, that was a rather big maybe.

Logically seen, she was my best option. And yet, my plan would certainly be regarded as suicidal and foolish. Who was as absurd as to voluntarily betake themselves to the _vampires_ , the blood-sucking creatures, to seek some kind of aid?

Apparently I was.

I didn't have many friends or allies... But with great luck, I could manage to make the enemy of my enemy my friend. At least in theory.

Crowley was the second best option I considered going to, but he was part of Ferid's faction and didn't have as much say in matters as others; even if it would have been less tedious to just go to the Nagoya City Hall. Because of a spoiler I had read about him and the second season, I knew that it was his domain, but I didn't know if the progenitor was already there. After all, I didn't know what year it was.

In addition, Crowley didn't have a personal interest in seraphs (or failed ones) as far as I knew, so I couldn't be sure that he wouldn't just cut my throat right away. Plus, I couldn't make this decision based on sympathy, considering how I had liked his character and read some facts about him and his past.

I also couldn't be sure how accurate the information from the anime or manga was, but if something did exist, it had to be Sanguinem.

In the JIDA facility, I had heard that the vampires' capital was underneath Kyōto and that the leader of the vampires resided there. To know that I had lived so close to them for years without even knowing it or suspecting anything was a rather scary thought.

After my personal hygiene session in the bathroom, I ate breakfast and boiled some snow to refill my now emptied water bottle. Once I was done with everything, I packed my backpack and left the house.

Just to make sure, I checked Shū's house and their school, too, but there was no one and nothing that could tell me where they had gone.

I left the letter and supplies from Shinya – from the Demon Army – behind, so the vampires wouldn't find anything in my belongings that could arouse their suspicion and make them think that I worked with their enemy, aside from myself of course. However, I couldn't entirely part with it, so I cut off the last sentence of Shinya's message together with the familiar emoji, folded it, and put it in the second compartment of my locket that didn't hold any pictures.

While I had been careful when moving around out in the open like this for the past days, I hadn't taken into account how fast the Horsemen of the Apocalypse could scent a human or how fast they moved...

Seemingly out of nowhere a white-green Horseman popped up when I accessed the rooftop of the school building. The monster must have been behind the building so I had missed it. The world came to a screeching halt as I stared in utter horror and fear at the huge creature.

The green-red Horseman was scaling the wall like an oversized spider, making holes in the outside wall of the building in the process... and then it took another jump.

Towards _me_.

I bit into my tongue to break my paralysis as I gaped at the quickly approaching monster with a thundering heartbeat. My legs must have resembled beaten slugs as they were shaking from fear and I almost lost footing as I ran towards the edge of the roof to get easier into the air. My breath came out in hasty puffs.

Just in time, I soared upwards into the sky – I didn't dare to look behind me when I felt a strange gust pass by my head and a pungent odour of rot accompanying it that almost made me gag.

Without looking back I just continued to flap my wings as fast as I could to get higher and higher, away from the ground and the creatures that lurked there. I was completely out of breath and shaking from fear and exertion when I left Nagoya behind. This had certainly been one of the scariest experiences in my entire life. I never wanted to see – or smell – another Horseman again. The rancid breath out of that alien mouth with too many teeth was almost unforgettable.

I panted heavily when I was finally high up in the sky and coughed up some blood. I just let it drop to the ground… Hmm, did that make me some kind of larger and sicklier dove that dropped their waste to the ground? I laughed in morbid amusement at that thought and let out more shuddering breaths as the tension in my body eased.

 _Oh Go_ d... I had just escaped certain death once more... _getting eaten alive_... Bile threatened to come up my throat as my stomach turned at the mental image, but I managed to shake the feeling off by thinking about a relaxing family trip with my parents when I was ten in this life.

Hayate and Irina had taken a few days off from their work back then to go to Nara with me. We had visited some of the shrines and temples there and had fed the famous free-roaming deer in the Nara park close to the Todai-ji, one of the most famous temples in Japan. Dad had been so terrified of the friendly and peaceful animals... Mum and I couldn't stop laughing and taking pictures of his terrified expression when a deer ate out of his hand and later nibbled on his shirt.

The deer had been so adorable, you could even pet them, and they would bow back at you. A wistful smile appeared on my face. Ah, we had such a good time there. But those happy times would never return.

* * *

During the flight to Kyōto I also tried to do some pirouettes around myself and played with the air currents to get my mind off of where I was about to go and get the horrifying encounter with the Horseman out of my head.

I didn't know if I would ever have the opportunity to fly again once I was in Kyōto. And who didn't dream of being able to fly? Still, I would have gladly lived without any of that shit that was responsible for their emergence.

God, why did I have to be reborn in _this_ fucked-up world of all places?! Why couldn't this world just have been normal and continue like it had been?! Everything had been going so well...

My first world had been crazy enough with all the atomic/hydrogen/whatever bombs that could destroy the whole planet several times. But this world of Owari no Seraph also had those weapons, plus even _more_ dangerous ones. A man-made virus had almost wiped out humanity, and then there were those researchers in the Demon Army's facility that were trying to create a seraph...

Who in their right mind would try to create another bioweapon that could potentially destroy the world?! And for what? To defeat the vampires that probably wouldn't have become a problem if their food source hadn't been so dumb and almost destroyed itself? For power? To gain more territory to stick their flag into?

Hadn't it been enough that the world was reduced to this sorry state it was in? Did humans never learn? Were they never satisfied? Why couldn't there be peace? Why were people so damn greedy and stupid in every world?!

This world was crazy, the people in it were crazy, and now I was sure I was crazy, too.

Going to Sanguinem, to the vampires, of all places? Yes, I had lost my marbles. But what did it matter when I was going to die soon anyway? Images of my family and friends, and my life, that had been ripped away from me, flashed before my eyes. If other people were allowed to be selfish, I could be like that, too.

 _Fuck this world, fuck this shit, fuck everything. I'm going to sic the vampires on the Demon Army's ass!_

* * *

It started to snow when I was nearing Kyōto, but thanks to my ski goggles that didn't bother me; I only hoped that the wind conditions wouldn't change.

Luckily, they didn't and I arrived in the airspace of Kyōto after three or four hours of flying, being completely exhausted again.

The sight of my old hometown pained my heart. I remembered Yoriko-baa, my music teacher Ikeda-san, Emi and Kenta and reminisced about the past. I had given up any hope to find them here alive and wasn't brave enough to face empty flats again; also, I feared that, if I waited for too long, I would reconsider my decision to go to the vampires.

Kyōto's structure occupied my mind instead. The once regal city that had been a dear home to me looked so roughed up and run down now. Without any maintenance some of the older buildings had become mere shadows of what they had once been... kind of like me.

I shook my head. This wasn't the time for sentimental or poetic thoughts.

Now I had to search for the entrance of Sanguinem. I cringed at the thought of going there willingly, aware of the things the vampires did to their residents. The idea of going to the bloodsuckers wasn't a good or even sane one, but I was out of options. With the way I looked, I couldn't turn to other humans for help. They would probably just deliver me to the Demon Army if they didn't run away in fear first, or try to use me for their own means somehow. I doubted that I could ever trust any of them (the adults) ever again.

Well, in my opinion, taking someone's blood was better than what those mad scientists had put me and the other kids through. A little blood donation was better than to be experimented on by your own kind.

I pulled out my binoculars and searched at the city borders for signs of any kind of entrance. If I remembered correctly, it looked a bit like the entrance to a mine, and it was somewhere on higher ground, more at the mountainside with a view over Kyōto if the story truly coincided with reality.

Wait.

What if Yū still was in there and hadn't escaped yet? I didn't know how much time had passed since 2012, but he and the other kids from the orphanage had tried to escape about four years after if I remembered correctly.

If they were still there, should I and could I help them? Interfering in those main events would affect the future, but I didn't want to let the kids walk to their deaths if I could prevent it.

I decided to cross that bridge when I'd get to it.

* * *

For a few more hours, I circled the city outskirts with short breaks in between, and I had almost let go of the binoculars when I finally spotted something that looked like the entrance to a mine.

My heart leapt into my throat. Just at the thought what I was about to face, a boulder-like barricade made itself known in my throat; however, I tried to swallow my fear as much as possible before I descended to the ground that was covered in snow after double-checking that the area was free of Horsemen and any other beings.

Either, I would die right here before I even got to Krul if I got spotted by the vampires, or would be… lucky and get an audience with her.

At any rate, my death would be fast and hopefully not as painful as what would have been my fate at the lab. And I thought that I wouldn't see the World of Death again so soon…

Yes, I was very optimistic about this whole situation.

Still not completely used to he wings, I clumsily landed a few meters away from the entrance. Few seconds passed before I burst into a rough coughing fit that made me spill blood all over the coat and had me wheezing for a few minutes.

Flying for so long had, once more, put a huge strain on my already enfeebled body.

I pulled the ski mask, beanie, backpack, gloves and coat off of me. Thanks to the heat plasters on my body and warm clothing, I wasn't as cold as I should have been after my flight, even if my muscles were stiff. Cleaning the blood from my face by using snow (seeing how I was going to meet the equivalent to a queen if everything went according to plan), the snow blanket around me slowly started turning into a deep shade of vermillion.

The wind picked up, and thicker snowflakes were falling from the darkening sky. I pulled the googles down, letting them rest around my neck.

The snow brought back ironically warm memories, and I let myself fall softly into the snow, spreading my wings as wide as I could. Now that I was outside, I wanted to continue my personal tradition of creating snow angles whenever it would happen to snow, as childish as I felt.

I hadn't been able to do it for years. However, this time around, I didn't need to use my arms to emulate wings. The breathtakingly winsome winter's sky seemed to fight for my attention – as if it knew that it might be my last time seeing it; it still hasn't been fully comprehended.

I watched the snowflakes fall with the tiniest of simpers while I remembered my skiing trips with Makoto and Shū as well as the ones with my dad and friends in my first life.

"See, I told you that I could smell blood, René. And look what we found – doesn't that look like... an angel that fell from the sky?"

An insouciant male's voice startled me out of my nostalgic memories and made me scramble up in distress, turning around to face the speaker.

My gaze landed on two Caucasian men who were advancing towards me, coming from the direction of Kyōto. It was almost strange to see these kind of features on other people after all this time – the researchers had all been Asian.

One of them appeared as if nothing would ever be able to entertain his inky eye circles and drooping orbs. A mohican-resembling mob of black hair lay upon his head, his face framed by long bangs. He was slightly taller than the other one…

Who had shoulder-length purple hair that was pulled back with clips and had a fringe... Did vampires dye their hair? His eyes were adorned with long lower lashes, a smirk resting on his face.

They both had sanguine eyes, pointed ears and were wearing white uniforms with a cloak, looking inhumanly ravishing with their flawless skin and reflection but fearsome at the same time.

They truly were vampires, creatures that dwelled in the protection of the night.

For a moment, I couldn't believe that they were real and just stared dumbly at the two inhuman creatures with an accelerated pulse. But it was impossible to deny the truth with the proof right in front of me once more – they really existed and I was in the world of Owari no Seraph, even if it had taken me far too long to realize or accept that.

It had taken me thirteen years, because my dumbass self had diligently ignored all the unusual things that should have made me aware of where I was. I had ignored the warnings my subconsciousness had sent me until it was too late.

 _'I think I even recognize them both from the show...'_ It flashed through my mind.

I didn't know if that was good or bad. The vampires were intimidating now that they were standing in front of me for real, and a sense of natural fear overcame me. My instincts told me that these men were dangerous and that I should get away from them as fast as possible.

However, I suppressed my fear as well as I could because they couldn't do more cruel things to me than what those damned bastards had done to me for years. Thinking about my goals and why I was doing all of this, I pushed myself to rise and found my composure with my arms calmly at my sides, even though I was anything but calm.

"Hmm. What should we do with it, René? Should we kill it or make it our livestock? Can it even talk?" the one with purple hair, I remembered his name to start with an L (?), asked the other one nonchalantly while scrutinizing me, his smirk widening.

 _Oh my... Shit._ Wasn't he the one who had killed Yoichi's older sister?

It would be best to keep my distance from him. Before the vampire called René could answer him, I decided to speak up.

I did a small bow as well as I could with my wings and politely introduced myself. "Kido Vivian is my name. And it would be in your best interest if you listened to my proposition before you kill me," I met their red-eyed gazes one after another, sounding calmer and more confident than I was, when in reality my heart was pounding fast out of anxiety and fear.

 _Holy shit, I'm really doing this..._

"Huh?" I guessed that the vampire with purple hair hadn't expected my reaction or any kind of backtalk.

"And why should we do that?" René asked, sounding even more emotionless than the other vampire.

Well, he had a point.

"I have information that could help you to destroy the Japanese Imperial Demon Army… once and for all. I don't know if you've heard of them already…" I didn't dare to pause for long in the fear that they would interrupt me and cease listening to me, "They are a human organization that wants to eradicate all vampires and rule Japan... as well as the rest of the world.

"They wanted to create a bioweapon that could kill you and did experiments on me against my will to achieve that. I'm… a failed experiment who managed to escape. But I'm convinced that they won't stop with me," I could barely keep the bitterness, hatred, and loathing for the Demon Army out of my tone as I forced myself to reveal the ugly facts and it seemed that they both noticed that. It wasn't very hard to miss. I had decided to go with the truth – I was bad at lying anyway.

They exchanged glances in a silent conversation.

Reluctantly, I pulled up my sleeves and showed them my horrible-looking arms with a stony face to prove I was telling the truth and they inspected me and the folded wings on my back more closely. I hated these scars...

It was silent for a few heartbeats. They seemed to be mulling over what I had said, weighing their options. Then my interrogation continued – I was glad that it even came to that, and that they didn't kill me on sight.

"As if a _human_ organization could ever threaten us," the purple head almost seemed amused, not deeming humans a threat. I had to say something about that and my penchant for debates of all kinds and for being a know-it-all (much to the like and dislike of my friends and classmates, I liked to share my knowledge and opinions) showed through.

"Humans managed to kill a huge part of their population through a virus, didn't they? The Demon Army is still dabbling in… things they shouldn't. Just take a look at me. Even if they don't succeed in developing more weapons against vampires, who is to say that they won't exterminate all humans on accident the next time something goes wrong?

"Maybe another virus that will affect humans of all ages this time will be released? It would be _inconvenient_ for you if all your livestock dies, wouldn't it? Who is going to provide you with blood if all the humans are dead?"

Having pointed this out, I hoped that my point would come across. I had to convince them. Even though the two vampires might not have met the JIDA yet, they should know the potential danger they presented to the vampires and all other humans. The vampires needed humans for their blood... at least I hoped so.

That fact appeared to quieten the vampire, whose name still remains unknown, for a moment, and René narrowed his eyes a little.

"Why do you want to destroy them? What makes you betray the humans? What is your motivation for coming here?" René watched me expressionlessly yet displeased at the same time.

I decided that the truth would be best and before I could help it, a short bitter laugh escaped me.

 _Hopefully it doesn't sound too crazy... it feels like it does. They are looking at me uncannily. Shit, there goes my credibility._

" _Humans_? They are not worth to be called that. They are _monsters_. They have experimented on me since the day of the apocalypse because of their greed for power… I don't even know how long it has been since then…

"They also did the same to other children, but I was the only one to survive. I was able to escape a few days ago; however, because of what they did to me… I'm... sick and won't be able to kill them myself…" My eyes wandered to the blood on my jacket and in the snow as I talked to myself into a rage.

"Call it my… dying wish. Even if I can't do it myself, I want them all dead. So, I came here, to their arch enemies – the vampires – to harm those monsters in the only way I can by giving _you_ information about them that will hopefully lead to their destruction," I finished in an unwavering and vengeful tone, returned René's gaze with fiery determination.

"Quite the dying wish you have there, not-so-human-livestock," his companion mocked from the sidelines, but my eyes still didn't waver under René's stare that could annihilate everything in its way, eerie crimson eyes piercing and dangerous – he was clearly the one who made the decisions.

I could see that he was debating whether he should kill me or not. If my information was worth the risk of taking me into the city.

I lowered my wings as I waited for his answer, but I received another question.

"What exactly are you now?"

I glanced at the wings. "I think I am still a human… even if I don't exactly look the part anymore. I'm just a powerless, selfish girl that wants to take revenge on those that made me like this." And achieve some other things, but it was left unsaid.

"You wish to use us for your own purposes then," René concluded.

"In a way, yes. But it will be beneficial for both of us."

"...Tell us what you know then," René instructed me. Right here? No, that wasn't good enough... Krul was the one who I needed to meet and have a talk with, otherwise my plan wouldn't work.

"You already know the basics. I apologize, but the details will only be revealed to your queen." It cost a lot of courage to get these words out of my mouth in front of the two vampires and to openly deny them.

The shorter of the pair furrowed his brows, an innocent glint shining in his eyes. And then, before I was able to sense anything, he had moved, and his gloved hand was around my throat, his eyes gleaming with amusement.

Holy shit, vampires are fast! And strong, judging from my restricted throat! Automatically, my hands wanted to pry his away from my throat, and I was tempted to perform a self-defence technique, but I suppressed the urge in the last moment and opted for glaring at the vampire and gripping his lower arm to steady myself instead.

I hoped I didn't look as if I was about to pass out from fright, because that was how I was feeling.

"Should you really be so cocky, livestock? Don't you know who you're talking to?" he asked me, contempt clear in his tone. "I could break your neck or drink you dry before you could even feel it." The hand around my neck tightened a little.

"And you would gain _nothing_ from it," I barely managed to deliver these words, my lungs tightening uncomfortably. "I-I'm going to-" a sharp inhale, "die anyway. This would be n-nothing but mercy," I bluffed and tried to keep the incoming panic from my face as I was being strangled.

All things considered, it would technically be a fast, almost merciful death, but like I had said, that wasn't my plan. Not yet, at least.

The violet haired vampire stared at me as if I was crazy. Maybe I was and had lost my sanity in that lab. But I held René's gaze now, waiting for his answer or command. His decision would determine my fate – either I would die right here or…

Well, at least I tried.

It was silent for a long time, and I almost exploded out of anxiety, fear and nervous anticipation. My air supply was getting dangerously low; moreover, I was close to downright breaking out in panic because of it.

"This kind of scary determination... humans," the black haired vampire mumbled more to himself. "We'll take it to the queen. She will decide how to proceed with it," René came to his decision. My heart almost jumped out of my ribcage in a mixture of relief and anticipation.

The other vampire let me plummet to the ground, again radiating a carefree nature. I didn't expect the fast action, so I lost my balance and fell to my hands and knees in the snow, coughing as I tried to breathe in fresh air. The phantom of the vamp's hold still lurked around my throat. I had gotten this far… now I only had to convince Krul of my _honest_ intentions.

This plan seriously sucked. I should never be allowed to make plans ever again.

"Dispose of any weapons you carry," René commanded, so I threw away the knives that had been in my right pocket and boot wordlessly, standing up again while folding my wings once more on my back. My previous strangler blinked a few times, looking faintly amused.

"You call that a weapon?" he asked bluntly. I shrugged my shoulders in response as I bent down to take my backpack.

"...better than nothing," my voice came out slightly scratchy because of my sore throat, concealing the snarky tone that might have peeked through.

Stupid purple-haired vampire guy.

As is a katana would just didn't lie around in abundance. And humans could be killed with a knife. I didn't even consider going up against a Horseman.

"Leave it and don't make any suspicious moves or we will kill you," René stated, his voice the epitome of gravitas.

I nodded in obedience, leaving the backpack, and approached them slowly. They were both taller than me but the violet haired vampire only by a tiny bit. Not that it made a difference – they were a lot stronger and faster than me and even if I wanted to, I wouldn't be able to shake them off.

"What about the goggles?" the owner of the lilac head inquired. Surprised as I didn't notice that they were still dangling around my neck, I gazed down at them. Still, I left them there, low around my throat, as a small safety precaution. Rather foolish and pointless after what had just happened.

He most likely followed my line of thought, because he smirked maliciously and lowered his crimson eyes to my covered neck that probably was bruising already from his tight grip earlier.

Alarm bells went on inside my head, blaring and loud. Would he bite through the fabric of my pullover? Or rip it away so he could drink my blood? He was able to ruthlessly kill a child, wasn't he? And he did just choke me out of nowhere. I had indirectly said that they could kill me, yes, but only after listening to what I had to tell them.

"It's not really pleasant to fly while getting snowflakes and cold wind into your eyes," I explained after clearing my throat, trying to divert his attention and looked expectantly at René to speed up the process before his partner decided to take a "sip" from me.

"Let it be, Lacus. We don't know if its blood will have any negative effects on us," René admonished the vampire called Lacus. I was glad to know that I had been right with the L, believing that my mind has not suffered too much.

"Fine, but even if it's sick, this angel-thing smells really tasty," the purple-haired city guard groaned, seeming annoyed but almost teasingly so. I think René had just unintentionally saved me from becoming Lacus' snack.

"Follow me and behave," René instructed me and walked through the entrance. I took that as my cue to follow him, even when I disliked that Lacus was at my backside now. He was a lot more frightening than René and had strangled me with a nonchalance that was far more than eerie.

They didn't bother to bind my eyes because I most likely wouldn't leave this place again.

I stepped into the darkness of the mine shaft, away from the faint daylight. Realization hit me then. I would probably die down here. I was oddly calm about that fact. Maybe because I had the small hope now that I would be able to achieve something before I died. It felt surreal to be here. ' _Either way, I can't prevent my death,_ ' I comforted myself.

The way through the dim and dank-smelling mine shaft was short, and then we were in an intricate, illuminated great stone hall that was made of white marble. It had something awe-inspiring that reminded me of some Roman buildings in the Vatican with its golden adornments.

I loved Roman architecture and was also quite interested in ancient Roman history, which was the reason why I had chosen to learn Latin at school in my first life.

My footsteps echoed in the empty space. We quickly passed through the hall and walked down into the sewers that were sparsely illuminated by lanterns on the walls.

After stalking through the seemingly never ending dark, unpleasant smelling sewers that had me stumbling quite a few times from exhaustion and inability to see in the dark, Lacus asked me another question.

"Did you really fly to Kyōto by yourself?"

I glanced back at him. It was hard to see in this darkness but I guessed that he was eyeing my folded wings, that were slightly trailing over the ground with their ends due to their large size. I knew that they were quite a sight to behold, even though their glow had dimmed in the past days. Lacus' crimson eyes were subtly glowing in the dark, which honestly looked terrifying. As if I needed another reason to fear him...

"Yes, I did," I simply answered him, avoiding looking into his eyes and then something else popped up in my head…"If the queen wants me dead, you both can have my blood if you still want it." At least it would be a fast death. "Then I will be of some use for something, especially if you ever take down soldiers from the Demon Army."

 _'What the Hell?! Where do all these crazy ideas come from?!'_ I questioned myself as soon as the words were out. I needed a brain to mouth filter. I definitely got a little twisted during my confinement. René glanced back at me. His eyes were shining faintly in the same red hue as Lacus'.

"Greedy even in death. As expected of a human."

"Hn. At least you know your place, weird livestock," Lacus added.

I shrugged my shoulders in response and ignored the insults, grinning in an ironic, twisted way. "I'm determined."

And desperate. And mad. And screwed up.

It was quiet again. We passed through the city that reminded me of the architectural style of 18th century Europe – very Gothic looking – which I was quite familiar with because I had lived close to Vienna in my past life.

However, Sanguinem smelled like a cold and slightly damp cellar under the earth, and the atmosphere was intimidating, cool and unwelcoming. More and more goosebumps crept up on my arms and back with every step further into this tomb. I would have truly preferred to never come to this place. What desperation could do to someone…

We came across a few children here and there, who were ogling me and the city guards in a mixture of awe and fright. With an expressionless face that could certainly rival René's, I scanned all of their faces in the hopes of spotting Mako-chan or Shū. Or did I hope I wouldn't find them in this place? I was confused with myself. Either way, I wanted to have a straight answer, a closure.

Soon after, we entered an imposing but haunting building that loomed over the city like a gargoyle – there were actually a lot of them here, too. The few vampires inside who crossed our way all wore dark grey uniforms, unlike René and Lacus, and were watching me with suspicious but apathetic glowing sanguine eyes from underneath the darkness of their hoods as we passed them.

I had to suppress a shudder of fright under the influence of their hollow gazes. But no one approached me with the other two vampires around.

The inside of the building was as impressive as the outside and made me feel out of place. Everything was cast in a dim light by lanterns hanging on the walls, making it look even more intimidating and fearsome because I couldn't see that much. Darkness seemed to lurk in every corner and hallway. I half-expected something to jump at me any moment.

The atmosphere was eerie and like something out of a horror film – the shifting of fabric, my footsteps and the thundering heartbeat in my chest seemed to be the only noises that broke the deafening silence. I couldn't hear the footsteps of René or Lacus on the dark red carpet of the inner palace.

I wondered if I was walking to my doom. This time, I could only blame myself for playing with and risking my life.

René stopped in front of a pair of intricate looking, wooden double doors and knocked on one with a golden door knocker that was attached to it. A few seconds later a voice came from some speakers somewhere?

"Enter." It was the voice of a girl, but it held an unmistakable authority. It had to be Krul.

René led me inside while I took one calming breath. Not that it was of much use.

The room was dimly lit like the rest of Sanguinem and had dark walls. Huge statues made out of marble lined the sides of the vast room. A blood-red carpet led up to two pairs of stairs and at the end of those... was a throne.

My eyes were drawn to the huge ornate throne in the back of the large room.

There sat Krul, the Queen of the Vampires in Japan. She would have looked like a beautiful ten year old girl if it weren't for the crimson eyes that bore into mine and that told everyone of her true age. She exuded an aura of power and authority.

A weird one-eyed bat sat on the left armrest of her throne, and right next to the throne was a small table with a see-through glass bottle and wine glass that contained a thick, red liquid… human blood. This time I shuddered violently.

René and Lacus stood a few feet behind me and bowed to her with their right hands over their hearts. I decided to do the same. Being polite couldn't hurt... and it gave me some more time to find my voice again.

"Oh, I see you've found something interesting on your patrol. How did you find it?" Krul cheerfully asked the two male vampires, her eyes still looking over my figure, over my wings. Her voice held a cool but oddly intrigued tone, and I hoped that was good for me.

"Lacus smelt its blood. We found the human just outside the entrance of Sanguinem, your majesty. It told us that its name is Vivian Kido and claimed that it flew here after escaping from a human research facility that wanted to create a weapon against us. The human says that it has information about the Japanese Imperial Demon Army and their human experimentation that could be of interest for us.

"It seems to be slightly mentally deranged, but I thought that the information may be worth your time," the black-haired city guard summarized. He had said my first name with a French accent... was he originally from France?

"The livestock said that it is its dying wish to help destroy the humans because they experimented on it," Lacus added, ridicule in his tone.

Wow, they really saw humans only as cattle, didn't they? I hadn't noticed before that they called me 'it'. If the situation wasn't so serious, I would have laughed about how they objectified humans to differentiate between vampires and humans. And to show that humans weren't equal to them, but their cattle. It was somehow bizarre but not my concern right now. As well as the mentally deranged part. The vampire wasn't completely wrong.

"Dying wish? You seek to betray your own race for revenge, human?" Krul wanted to know from me. All eyes landed on me. I decided to explain all my reasons to her right then and there, when I still had the opportunity to do so. I straightened my back and forced myself to meet her gaze.

"Your majesty…" I began, getting riled up again because of what I was going to reveal, and using the title René had used, "vile creatures like them have brought the apocalypse onto us humans – they are the reason millions of people worldwide had to die. Because of them my parents and almost all of my family and friends are dead… and... two of my best friends had to die before my very eyes…" All the resentment and hatred that had been bottled up for the past years began to spill out of my mouth.

"They experimented on a group of children to create a bioweapon to use against vampires and other humans. I am the only one who survived – though I'm sure that I will join them soon in death. I want to make them pay because they and their greed for power are the reason for all this suffering – mine included. I'm not betraying humanity, _they_ did. If the Demon Army continues with their inhumane experiments, they could potentially kill the rest of humankind one day – they have to be stopped, no matter what. In my eyes they are not humans but power-hungry _monsters_ ," I ended my sorrow and hate-filled speech.

In a way it was almost therapeutic to get all of this off my chest..."I'd rather side with vampires and become cattle than to let them succeed."

Just at this moment I noticed the blonde boy in white clothes who was standing a distance away from Krul. Had he been standing there since the beginning? My heart made a jump once our eyes met. Was that Mikaela? Then I was too late to do anything… He kind of resembled Shinya with his blue eyes… my heart went out to the sad looking boy.

"My... How intriguing."

My attention snapped back to Krul as she stood up from her throne and languidly descended the stairs… closer to me… I remained unmoving at my place although my instincts screamed at me to run away. However, there was no point in running.

Slowly, the vampire circled me, inspected me from all sides. Like a predator its pray. I never would have thought that I could be afraid of a more than a head shorter, pink haired girl, but oh was I wrong.

After an excruciating long time, Krul stopped directly in front of me. Her crimson eyes seemed to see right through me, as if she could look into my soul. My heart felt like it was pounding two hundred times a minute.

"Stretch out your wings," she commanded me, and I followed her order despite my protesting muscles. Her eyes lingered on them for a few moments.

"So the Japanese Imperial Demon Army continued with _their_ experiments… huh? It seems that our goals are the same, human. However, I want to let you be examined first before I allow you stay here in Sanguinem. You will tell me everything you know about this Japanese Imperial Demon Army afterwards. If you refuse to be examined, I will kill you right now. What is your choice?" Krul asked me without an ounce of mercy in her voice and as nonchalant as if she was talking about the weather.

I sighed in defeat. Even if I hated undergoing examinations, I would have to do this one last time.

"I agree with your condition… My life is in your hands," I decided. It was the only real option. Now I could just hope that I truly wasn't a seraph... or would Krul want that? At least I hoped I was interesting enough to be kept alive.

Yes, Krul had kept children with the seraph gene in Sanguinem and I was kind of counting on that so my plan would succeed – that she would want to have someone like me, especially if all her... seraphs were dead or out of reach now, but who knew what she would do with me.

"Excellent choice. René, Lacus, take her to the examination room. I will see you soon, human," Krul patted my cheek with one of her cold hands. I repressed a shudder at the gesture but I couldn't hide that I was slightly shivering out of fear and because I was cold. Both inside and out.

"Yes, your majesty," came the reply from both of them. Krul gazed at me with an unreadable expression on her face. Before René and Lacus led me out of the room, my eyes travelled to Mika one last time. He was watching me leave with a cheerless expression, but he seemed to be in thoughts.

* * *

 **A/N:** So... What do you think? Did I keep everyone in character?


	6. The Enemy Of My Enemy (Part 2)

********Disclaimer** : ******I don't own Owari no Seraph, its plot or characters, or any other mentioned books, songs, or series. They belong to their respective owners. I only own my OCs and the plot that deviates from canon or doesn't exist in canon. This is a non-profit fan fiction just for fun.

 **Beta reader: haelyeon**

 **To _AkazawaIzumi_** : Thank you so much for reviewing again! I'm glad that you liked Vivian's thought process and think that her decisions made some sense. They were supposed to be kind of crazy but also reasonable if you're desperate enough... A touch of madness mixed with some rational thinking.

She didn't include Shinya in the "I want them all dead part" even though she knows that he is part of the JIDA, because she just _doesn't_ think of him as one of them _._ Vivian also knows that he was planning to change/overthrow his family (the Hiiragi) because she talked with him about it a lot in the past, so she hopes that it will help him as well if the vampires take care of some of the current people in power from the JIDA. Also, her main focus is to destroy the experimentation building and the people in it, and she has Shinya included in her plans, which will be explained in this chapter in more detail.

It must have totally slipped my mind to mention it earlier and in more detail. So, thank you a lot for questioning that and pointing it out so I could fix it in earlier chapters and explain her thoughts better in this one! Vivian wouldn't want to hurt Shinya :D

Unfortunately, she doesn't know that Makoto and Shū are going to be in the JIDA, too, because she didn't watch the second season yet. Back in the "real world" she just looked up some characters (which one of them will be cleared up throughout the fic) and their backgrounds from the first season that interested her and talked with one of her friends about them, who also told her a few spoilers. She hasn't read the manga or light novels, but she knows a few facts from some of them because of that. Vivian's knowledge of the ONS universe is pretty random, plus she has forgotten some things because so much time has passed since she watched the series. I hope it makes some sense. I thought it would be too boring and too convenient for her if she already knew everything. She tries to make do with the information that she has.

 **A/N:** My beta reader **haelyeon** was so kind as to beta-read chapter 4 and 5, too, so be sure to check them out if you haven't yet :) I want to thank **everyone** who favourited, followed, left a review, and read this story!

 **More interactions with vampires ensue after Vivian arrived in Sanguinem. Enjoy!**

* * *

 **Chapter 6 The Enemy Of My Enemy (Part 2)**

The examination wasn't as different from the ones I had occasionally gone through at the Demon Army's labs. Two vampires in dark grey uniforms extracted some of my blood to conduct several tests on it. They conducted a rough physical examination while René and Lacus stood at the sides as my warden, which made me even more uncomfortable.

I had found out that I had been held captive for a little longer than four years; my height has increased by a few more centimetres and I had unfortunately lost weight which I had already noticed. My wings weighed around 8 kilograms – incredibly light for their size. The vampires also measured and tested the wings, and they got samples of the feathers to examine them.

The vampiric researchers asked me basic questions about myself, like my age, birth date, and the like, as well as some more psychological questions about me, my life and the experiments I had been subjected to.

I answered them honestly but as vague as I could – I didn't mention the seraphs or the Seraph of the End project as a precaution because I saved that for Krul– and in as few words and descriptions as possible.

The idea of revealing even more details than I already had in my small fit of rage was not something I liked, and I also didn't want to relive all of what I had been through by talking about it, but I had to work together with the vampires and comply. I assumed that they were trying to evaluate if I had gone bonkers during my confinement and how much they could rely on my words.

Then they asked me how I had gotten the wings, and if I had developed some other powers, too. After I had answered the first question with uncertainty – I blamed them on the injections and procedures by the JIDA researcher. I pondered on the second one.

"I'm not really sure… I don't think so," I told the only female vampire, who had asked me the questions while her male colleague inspected the samples.

"We will conduct a few more spellcraft-related tests on you then," she proposed. My stomach clenched in apprehension at the vampire's words, but I nodded silently and followed her into a larger, almost empty room with a high ceiling.

Symbols of some kind alongside a pentagram were drawn on the ground in the middle, and at the sides were book shelves, a few wooden tables, and chairs. They probably held more material that would be needed to perform spells.

There was a see-through window front on one side behind which I could see a camera for recording standing.

 _'Just a few more tests... just a few more tests... then I'll never have to do it again,'_ I tried to encourage myself as panic rose in me.

Once upon a time, I had liked magic or the thought of it existing when it had just been fiction, but after my time in the JIDA research facility, I had begun to hate it. Hated how it could control or influence me without me being able to do anything to counter it.

Spells messed with your mind and body in a different way than an injection or drugs, but they were equally frightening.

I had no idea what exactly the vampire researchers were doing when they scribbled more things on the ground and on paper, and just hoped that whatever it was, it would end soon. Once they were done with the preparations, I had to stand in the middle of some kind of magic circle.

By some invisible command from one of the vampires, ropes with _fuda_ – enchanted paper talismans – attached to them tangled themselves around my limbs like snakes, minus the wings.

I tried not to struggle as I was being physically restricted and pushed down a sudden bout of nausea and dread. My heart pounded rapidly in my chest.

It felt as if the _fuda_ was drawing out the power in my body, because I could feel the cold power inside of me rise up again but much stronger than before. And the power grew and grew until I felt as if I was drowning in it. I was drowning, but at the same time being energized by the cold river of power inside of me.

I didn't know when or how it happened – my mind gets clouded whenever magic was included – but I was suddenly aware of the fact that I was hovering effortlessly in the air with outstretched wings. The silvery-white light that was the same as the one from the Angel of Death further illuminated the quadratic room.

But... it originated from _me_.

Before I knew what I was doing and without my consent, I had stretched out one arm as if I was being controlled by something, and, by some invisible command, crystalline particles began to form. Whirling around the room, they arranged themselves into a familiar circular shape parallel to the ground.

The doorway to the World of Death.

All the power I had was being poured into its formation, and I couldn't stop myself. I felt as if I was being controlled by the power and the magic bindings, was damned to be a watcher in my own body which didn't seem to listen to me anymore. Would I summon an Angel of Death and dig my own grave? Or be called to the World of Death and step through the doorway myself?

 _'No, no, no! Not now when I'm about to accomplish something!'_ My protests went left unanswered inside my head.

The four vampires continued to watch me in silence, the two researchers scribbling down things while I was a prisoner in my own body and possibly conjuring up my own death. It was one of the most disturbing experiences I had ever been subjected to.

And here I thought I had experienced enough disturbing shit already – it seemed that it could always get worse.

All of a sudden, as if in response to my thoughts, pain erupted in my chest once more and then the power inside of me was gone as fast as it had emerged, as if a candle had been blown out. The door vanished as if it had never been there, and, right afterwards, I glided down to the ground but fell the last meter as all strength left me.

The impact caused more pain to rise in my legs and arms as I tried to soften my fall with them. I felt utterly drained and dizzy, unable to stay on my feet anymore, and I sprawled inertly on the ground, forgetting any kind of dignity. Seconds after, I had another coughing fit that left me feeling incredibly weak again. My wings were suddenly too heavy for me, and my head began to ring.

I made out the sound of voices, the vampires talking, but I was unable to understand them or stay awake; even though, I didn't want to fall asleep in their presence. My sight went foggy as I looked at my bloodstained hands.

* * *

Exhausted and toilworn, I woke up in a queen-sized bed made out dark wood, soft, emerald-green bed sheets covering it. I was inside a very antique but exquisite looking room, that reminded me of... a vampire's lair.

The floor was made out of sand-coloured marble, a thick green carpet with golden linings covering parts of the ground that held two green vintage sofas in the same colour scheme. A tea table made from the same dark wood as the bed, chest of drawers and a bedside table occupied the room alongside the other furniture.

For a moment, I had no idea where I was and wondered if I had made a time-travel back to Victorian England in the 18th century. After a minute or so, I was awake enough to remember the test and how I had fainted.

And that I was indeed in a vampire's lair.

An IV was stuck inside my left arm and was almost empty; I had to fight the urge to rip the damn thing out of my arm. I must have been out of it for a while. With that unsettling demonstration earlier, I hoped that I had at least convinced Krul of my worth.

That hadn't been planned. I didn't know that I harboured such power, and I didn't want it to either. Who would want to be able to create a doorway to the World of Death?

Before I could debate once more if the curse of the Seraph of the End had been laid upon me, the door to my room was opened, and the person I had just thought about entered.

My pulse shot up as I observed the vampire approaching, but I tried my best to remain calm and keep the instinctual fear I felt in her presence at bay.

"You are finally awake, I see. I must say that your test results were rather interesting, human," Krul told me while I moved to sit up.

The small vampire sat down on a wooden chair with an intricately carved, golden back, and green padding, that stood right next to my bed, which helped me relax a little more.

Having Krul standing or walking around made me more anxious, even though she could just jump at me and attack me without me even seeing her if she really wanted to. Like one of those Australian huntsman spiders that liked to surprise you.

Screw you, Shinya, for sending me a jump scare video of one! I had accidentally destroyed my old phone because I threw it away out of fright. Australians who regularly dealt with these monstrosities had my deep respect – I wondered how many of them had survived the apocalypse. Maybe they had found a way to deal with the Four Horsemen of John, too?

...Still, that comparison with Krul and reminder wasn't helpful at all. And my test results were interesting? Was that good? Did that mean that she would let me stay?

Krul must have noticed my questioning gaze. "First of all, you are a tolerably mentally stable human, for the most part."

Whew, so I wasn't as insane as I thought, huh?

"While your wings and the power you have displayed were certainly… extraordinary, you weren't even close to the level of a real seraph. My physicians estimated that you don't have more than a few weeks left to live because the seraph cells from another host that have been injected into your body caused an auto-immune reaction. Now your body is destroying itself from within," the vampire queen revealed.

The confirmation of my suspicions hit me like a truck. Wow... Krul was not beating around the bush. I lowered my eyes down to my hands that were clutching the blanket in internal anguish and frustration. I knew that I was really ill, but I had thought that I would have a few months left at least.

For a moment I thought about the confirmed fact that I would die even earlier than in my past life. I still couldn't quite believe it – I wouldn't even live past seventeen this time.

Once more, I wouldn't be able to achieve the goals I had set for myself in life. No becoming a real pianist, no sappy love story, no growing old together with my friends and battling each other with our walking canes...

No, nothing.

That was when despair welled up in me – I didn't want to die again, but I couldn't win against my own body.

My only consolation was that I had tried out more hobbies and things this time around, had been more honest to myself as well as bolder, had lived with fewer regrets. Now, I knew for certain how much time I had left and could plan what to do with my remaining time.

For now I pushed the self-pitying and depressing thoughts back into a dark corner of my mind and concentrated on my goals, the reason why I had come to Sanguinem. I had become really good at that in the past four years.

"Thank you for telling me this… your majesty," I glanced at Krul, unsure if I should call her by her first name or with a title, but she made no indication to call her otherwise. It would be suspicious if I knew her name because she hadn't been introduced to me yet.

"I hope that my information will help you to bring the Demon Army down, though I would have preferred to do it myself. I will tell you what I know about them and whatever else you want to know…"

I swallowed before I voiced my request nervously, "In turn, would you please let me live my last days here in peace and allow me to search for two friends in your vampire cities, and guarantee me their and a few other friends' safety and life if it isn't too much to ask?" I pleaded Krul.

I had nothing left to lose now. This was why I had come here in the first place – now was as good a moment as any to state my request. Krul appeared contemplative as she peered at me. Would she grant me my request?

Despite all of my (somewhat) careful planning, I couldn't really predict how Krul, or any other person for that matter, would react even if I knew her a little as a character from my past life. I could only try my best to stay alive and get what I wanted in this world by using the few tools I had at my disposal.

"Greedy and selfish as expected," Krul stated, her crimson eyes shimmering. "You are quite bold and audacious to demand something from me in your position, human. But if it weren't for this personality trait of yours, you wouldn't be here now, would you?" her lips quirked slightly.

"I'm not averse to grant your requests if I deem your information valuable – unlike humans, we vampires don't kill unnecessarily and it would be of no consequence to me to spare some humans or look in my cities' livestock registers for them." I almost slumped down in relief at Krul's words.

"Thank you, your majesty. Then I will tell you everything I know." Not a lie, but I wasn't actually planning on telling her all the details _right away_ – I needed some leverage as a small safety precaution, an incentive so I truly wouldn't be killed until I had reached my goals, until Krul had given me her word to spare my friends. I just needed to find the right balance in feeding her bits and pieces of information to convince her to keep me around.

"We will begin then... with the day of the apocalypse and your capture by the Demon Army but in more detail." Damn. Krul had most certainly read my basic background information the other vampires had gathered, so why did I have to do this again?

Reluctantly, I began to tell her my story. Sometime during our questioning session, where I told the vampire queen bits about the experiments they conducted on me in that facility, the people behind it, the Seraph of the End project, and mentioned other things I remembered or had heard during my confinement that would hopefully be of interest to her, my stomach growled from hunger.

My neck also hurt quite a lot... I cursed the purple-haired vampire in my thoughts for strangling me.

I tried to suppress my hunger by drinking the water someone had placed on the night stand next to my bed, but I was beginning to feel sick out of hunger. My last meal must have been a while ago.

Krul suddenly stood up after I had answered one of her questions about the building where the JIDA had kept me and walked to the door. Before she closed it behind her she looked at me.

"You are allowed to stay here, human," was her relieving verdict. "A servant will bring you something to eat and new clothes for you to wear. There is a bathroom that is joined to this room. Use it."

Oh no... was she talking about my slight lack of hygiene...? My cheeks heated up in shame. It was embarrassing to be indirectly called out on it that I probably didn't smell like a bed of flowers.

But there was only so much I could do to clean myself after sweating and a few days of travel in a post-apocalyptic world without running water available. Thankfully, I had taken deodorant and body wash with me on my journey or it could have been a lot worse, though.

With that she closed the door, leaving me slightly baffled, embarrassed, but immensely relieved behind, even though Krul hadn't given me her word yet that she would fulfil my request and guarantee the safety of my friends.

I took a deep breath. I had really done it. I had somehow convinced the Vampire Queen of Japan to keep me around.

Going out with a bang… Taking a small part in the JIDA's downfall, helping Shinya to overthrow his adoptive family like he had planned to do, and possibly finding Mako-chan and Shū, as well as protecting my friends; it was all within my grasp. In the best case.

I dearly doubted that Krul would send out her vampires to fight the JIDA right away after hearing what I had to say – for some reason, she had decided to wait eight years before she did that in the anime.

No, I was certain that there had to be a special reason why she had waited for so long to declare war on the humans of the JIDA, but perhaps I could give her a little push in a certain direction. The war was unavoidable and Yū and his future squad would go out there to fight the vampires – I couldn't do anything about that, even if I liked them and didn't want them dead.

But I was pretty sure that Mika would somehow protect him and he might even help Yū's friends if Yū asked him for it so I probably didn't need to concern myself with them.

My friend Shinya was another matter. Having Krul's word that she wouldn't harm Shinya, who fought for the JIDA and was part of the Hiiragi family, was also one of the concerns why I had come to Sanguinem at all.

I didn't know how the Owari no Seraph series ended – the manga had still been going on and I hadn't read it yet, but having the certainty that Shinya's strongest enemy wouldn't kill him... was the best that I could do. I was pretty sure that Shinya could deal with the small fries alone.

Of course, he was one of the other friends whose safety and life I wanted guaranteed. I had even included those friends of his I had never met in my plea, because he probably wouldn't want them dead and they seemed to have helped Shinya to search for me. They were most likely soldiers of the JIDA as well and somehow involved with the Hiiragi family, which was why Shinya had never introduced me to them. He had wanted to keep me a secret.

Even if I wouldn't be alive in a few years anymore, at least my friends would be safe through my actions. A bittersweet smile tugged at my lips. For them I had to give my best.

Not quite believing my luck in surviving this far, I removed the needle of the empty IV from my arm, went to the door that led to the bathroom and pressed the light switch.

Like the room I had woken up in, the bathroom was rather beautiful, the floor was made out of polished white stone, as were the walls, and there were golden linings or ornaments arranged in a tasteful pattern. Once more, Roman architecture came to my mind.

It was paradise after having spent the past four years in that lab. The vampires had some serious taste in terms of their architecture, at least.

There was a bathtub with claw-feet in the middle of the room. Next to it was a small table with an arrangement of towels and bathing utensils. On the right side was a washing area and a toilet was situated at the back of the room.

For a second I was puzzled why vampires had toilets. They only consumed blood, so they shouldn't need those, right? Not that I knew much about vampires and their biology...

Hmm, why would Krul have a need for such a guest room? Were there human guests who visited her? That thought was rather absurd to me... but here I was.

Shrugging, I plugged the bathtub and let warm water flood inside after I had locked the bathroom door. Once the tub was full with water and bubbles from the soap I had poured inside, I climbed out of my dirty clothes and into the pleasantly warm water.

It was pure bliss. And something that had slipped from my attention came to mind... Sometimes I could be oblivious to obvious things.

The wings were gone. Startled, I touched my back where they had been, to find that there was nothing that indicated that they had been there to begin with. No unevenness, not even a scar.

Had the vampires somehow removed them? But why was there no scar then? Had they used some kind of magic? Or did I somehow turn off the... "seraph mode" by using up all of the power I possessed in that test?

I would have to ask Krul later for the answers.

Sinking down into the bubbles again, I removed the hair tie to let out my hair from the braid. When the water started to cool down, I first shampooed, and then after years of neglect, put conditioner in my hair.

Bless the person who had put it here, vampire or not.

Even after the water had cooled down, I was rather reluctant to climb out of the tub, but the hunger had returned and I hoped that someone had brought me some food.

And clothes. I didn't want to put my old ones on again for obvious reasons. I put my hair in the smaller towel and tied the bigger one around my body.

Afterwards I went to the sink and looked inside the cabinets. There I found an unused toothbrush and toothpaste that I instantly used. Their presence made more questions pop up in my head about my hosts.

Did vampires brush their teeth? The image that my mind came up with was rather funny. Or were these things placed there for me, although it hadn't been sure that I would stay?

After opening the bathroom door and carefully peering outside, I discovered some new clothes laying on the dresser. In addition, there was a tray with steaming soup and a loaf of bread on the wooden rectangular tea table that stood in between two identical vintage sofas.

I rushed to the white clothes and wasn't surprised that it was a white dress with black linings – the typical livestock clothing – but it wasn't exactly the same as the dress the girls had to wear here. It had long arms but no hood. Thankfully, it covered the scars and bruises on my arms, which was all I wanted. Nobody wanted to see that.

I put on the white bra and panties, before I did the same with the dress and wondered how the vampires even knew my sizes. Maybe someone had retrieved the backpack with the underwear? Or, had someone taken my measurements while I was asleep? Another unsettling thought that I pushed away.

I proceeded to sit down on the sofa and greedily ate the warm soup and bread. When I had eaten everything, I dried my hair and braided it loosely again. It was still impossibly long and a bother to deal with, so I let it hang over one shoulder.

While I was occupied with that task my eyes fell on the locket that lay on top of my old clothes and once I was done with braiding, I carefully put it on. Then I sat back down on the sofa and opened my locket to look at the pictures and Shinya's message again.

Maybe I could see Makoto and Shū one last time. Would they be as glad as I if we saw each other again, or would they hate me once they knew that I had sided with the vampires?

I knew that not everyone from the JIDA was evil; Yū's future squad or Shinya for example, and many others who didn't know what their higher ups did behind closed doors, weren't to blame.

However, the people who ordered the experiments in search for a higher power and those who conducted them shouldn't be left alive or they would bring another catastrophe onto us. The scientists and upper-tier commanders were the people I wanted dead and would try to direct Krul and the vampires at.

The least I could do for Shūsaku, Makoto and even Shinya before I'd die, was to make sure they could live in this world.

A light knock startled me out of my thoughts. I waited but no one opened the door. Surely, if it was Krul or another vampire, they would have waltzed right in?

Out of curiosity more than apprehension, who was standing on the other side of that door, I raised my voice, "Please come in."

Slowly, the door opened to reveal…

A blonde-haired boy with sky blue eyes who could be none other than… Mikaela. He barely made two steps into the room and just stood there looking out of place, somewhat miserable and kind of awkward. First he stared at me, or rather, at the braid that hung over my left shoulder? Oh no... that girl from his family had had a braid just like this, didn't she? Did it bring up unwanted memories for the boy?

Mikaela looked away after meeting my eyes and continued to stare expressionlessly at the ground instead. I snapped out of my surprise.

"Hello. I saw you in the throne room with the queen, right? Do you… do you want to sit down?" I extended my hand to the sofa opposite to mine, unsure what he was here for.

Without saying a word, he sat down where I had pointed to. Once again, I waited for a bit, but Mika didn't say anything. Not knowing what else to do, I decided to break the silence before it would get too awkward.

"Can I ask you your name?" Of course, I already knew it, but I shouldn't walk around here spouting names I should have no way of knowing.

The boy peered at me for a moment before lowering his eyes again. His eyes... they seemed hollow, haunted, but at the same time... full of pain. Somehow they really reminded me of Shinya back when I had first met him.

I didn't remember Mika ever being like this in the show. Later, as a vampire he had acted apathetic and cold, but confident – when he wasn't around his Yū-chan – and with the other orphans he had been really cheerful.

Ah, of course, it most likely hadn't been long since he had lost his family and became a vampire against his will. The poor boy was still wearing the "livestock" clothes, although I was sure that he was a vampire already.

Mikaela was rather pale – as pale as I – though I didn't know if it was from the lack of sunlight down here, and his pupils appeared to be slightly slit if I wasn't mistaken. His ears weren't visible, though.

"Hyakuya Mikaela. Krul ordered me to chat with you for a bit every day from now on. That I should hear directly from you how vile and cruel humans are. She also said that I'm too… gloomy and should... take you as an example because of your fighting spirit…" I could tell that Mika really didn't want to be here and had to force himself to say these words.

His voice sounded dead, as if he was barely here. It made my heart ache. And what kind of ridiculous order was that? Mikaela's loss must have been rather recent. I couldn't tell if Krul cared for the boy in her own odd way and thought talking to me would help him somehow, if she was trying to make him see that he wasn't human anymore and make him despise them by listening to my story, or, if she had some other hidden agenda in mind.

I suspected a mixture of all three possibilities. Also, it had to be difficult for Mika to control his thirst if he had to be around me for a longer time. Not that I knew anything about it, but if someone placed my favourite type of chocolate right in front of me, I would probably eat it, even if I was on a diet. I was not very good at exercising restraint; all though, I was pretty strong-minded. Luckily, I wasn't the vampire out of us two.

Additionally, Mika was probably emotionally unstable right now because of his transformation and the loss of his family. Ordering him to spend time with another human again that would die soon seemed really cruel to me, even if he should take me as some kind of example.

What was that even about? Taking a human as example. Did Krul like my attitude or something? What was she playing at? What was her motive behind this order?

Mika couldn't go against Krul's wishes as she was the one who had sired him – she was his master. I should either keep an emotional distance from him, so he wouldn't be affected by my death – but was that even possible if he had to spend time with me every day for the next weeks?

Or… I could try to help him to accept what happened to him and perhaps make his life a little brighter with my remaining time. It wasn't hard to tell that Mika was in some kind of depression. Who wouldn't be in his stead after everything he had been through? Honestly, _I_ wasn't that much better off. But I was an adult and had experience in dealing with grief and had had time to come to peace with the death of some of my loved ones.

I was certainly no therapist and wasn't perfectly well either, but I could at least try to help him somehow. I still remembered my own therapy sessions I had had after my mom's death in my first life, so I knew something about grief counselling.

Curse my bleeding heart… the moment I had set my eyes on Mikaela I had known that I wanted to help him if I could.

Even when this had been nothing more than a TV show in my past life, I had felt compassionate towards him; now that I had experienced a similar loss even more so. No one should have to endure a fate like his all alone.

If I was stuck in a shitty world like this, I could at least _try_ to make the best out of it. Make the best out of my remaining time.

And if I was being honest, I wanted some company, too, and the boy seemed nice enough. Plus, he reminded me of Shinya and my younger friends. Also, I didn't want to die alone, without anyone even knowing or truly caring about it even though it might be more cruel for Mika that way.

I wanted to accomplish something with my remaining time, wanted to give my life a meaning for my last days, which was the reason why I was here. In a way, concentrating on Mikaela instead of my own problems would help me, too. I was a very selfish person.

"It's nice to meet you, Mikaela. My name is Kido Vivian although you can just call me Vivian or Vivi. Even 'Nee-chan' would be alright. I haven't been called that in a long time…" I trailed off and looked down at the little picture of my friends inside the locket. Mika followed my gaze and remained silent for some time.

"Are those pictures of your friends that… died?" Mikaela asked me, uncertain about my reaction. I smiled at him, which seemed to confuse him slightly. Maybe I had come on too revenge-driven in the throne room.

"Yes. Do you want to see them?"

After contemplating it for a moment, he nodded slowly in response. I pulled the locket off and held it out for him. Mikaela took it carefully into his hands without touching mine and looked at it.

"In the picture on the left side are all of my friends." I reached over the table and pointed at my friends while telling him their names. There was no harm in it. I doubted that he would tell another vampire or anyone else for that matter about them. Mika didn't seem to be very talkative at the moment. Even Krul wouldn't gain anything from it if she only knew their first names. She would know some of them sooner or later anyway.

"…and Makoto and Shū are like the little brothers I never had. I was eleven when we took that picture. It's already been six years since then. Time goes by really fast," I said wistfully.

"Are they all…?" Mikaela started but didn't finish the sentence.

"Kenta, Emi, and Shinya were fifteen and sixteen years old when the virus broke out. Kaori and Akira, too. Those two were the close friends that... died from the virus in front of my eyes… while I was unable to help them," I paused and contemplated if I should tell Mika the details.

One more look at the blonde and I had made my decision. I had already told my story a few times, what would one more time matter? Especially if it might help Mika.

"On that day I asked them to have fun with me at the mall and celebrate Christmas there together, otherwise they wouldn't have gone to the mall. For a long time I blamed myself that it was my fault they got the virus and died, because they would have stayed at home if it weren't for me. Maybe they would have lived longer if it weren't for me. That thought was on my mind for a long time. But then I realized…"

Mikaela was listening intently now. It seemed that my story struck something in him. It loosely resembled his own past and experiences, which was the reason why I brought it up. I wanted to help him, but that would only be possible if he _talked_ to me... opened up a little.

However, he seemed like the kind of person that would rather keep everything to himself, so I opened up first and decided on a direct approach – I wasn't that good at a soft approach anyway. I didn't have much time on my hands as well, so I had to make every conversation with him count, even this first one.

"It already happened. I can't change the past, no matter how much I wish for it or blame myself and others. That's why I try to remember the fun times and memories I had with them. I don't want my friends to become a burden to me but rather a well of my strength. In fact, those happy memories I made with them helped me survive the torture under the human experimentation on me for four years," I told Mikaela with a small smile.

Remembering the good memories hurt as much as they helped because I knew that those times would never come again...

"Why are you telling me this?" Mika asked me, startled by my openness and frankness.

"…In this wretched world there is nobody who hasn't lost someone. Did you grieve properly for them?" I inquired softly while he clenched his fists and avoided my gaze, his face twisted in pain and guilt. Perhaps I had been too forward, although I kind of knew him already, to Mika I was a total stranger.

Well, at least he had shown some emotions now.

"You don't have to tell me anything if you don't want to. I just wanted you to know that sometimes it helps to tell someone your feelings and get it off of your chest what troubles you. I won't judge you; if you ever need someone to listen and talk to, or even complain to how unfair life is… I'm here. And I will literally take your secrets to my grave."

It was quiet for a few moments. The silence wasn't a comfortable one. I had expected that, but that didn't make it better. Awkward silences were awkward and made me cringe internally.

"Ah, I'm sorry if I came on too strong and overwhelmed you, even if I meant everything I said. I can be rather straightforward when I want to get a point across, so don't be bothered by it, Mikaela. Maybe I have lost some of my social competence after having no one to really talk to for four years... and was too happy that I have finally someone to talk with again who didn't see me as a test subject," I rambled a little to overcome my feeling of awkwardness.

The boy seemed to loosen up once more as he saw me struggle.

"…It's okay. Are these two adults here your parents?" he changed the subject and pointed at the other picture and I nodded in response.

"Yeah. They were really nice people even though I didn't see them often because of their work. They loved to listen to me playing the piano. I haven't played it in a long time…" I trailed off in thoughts.

"...There is a music room in this mansion. I could ask Krul for permission to let you play there if you want…" Mikaela proposed. My heart jumped in happiness at the prospect to be able to play on a real piano again. I noticed that boy tried to distract attention from him and let him do it for today.

We had to get to know each other first before he would open up... _if_ he opened up. That was entirely his decision and people didn't work like vending machines. If you put one 'trust' in, you wouldn't automatically get another 'trust' out of it in return. Just because I had decided that this was what I wanted to do with my remaining time, it didn't mean that it would magically happen or succeed.

In any case, I would be content to be in Mikaela's company for my remaining days.

"Really?! That would be super nice, Mikaela!" I was excited. "Would you like to listen to me if I'm allowed to go there? I've always enjoyed playing songs for others… Of course, only if you want to." I knew that not everyone was a fan of classical or instrumental music.

To my delight, the boy nodded in response, so I smiled brightly back at him. "Great!" A knock on the door interrupted us and a few seconds later a female vampire, that wore a grey uniform with a matching cloak, came in with another tray that held some rations for a supper.

Without a word she placed the tray on the table, retrieved the other one, and left again. I thanked her politely, but the brown-haired woman ignored me – she was most likely pissed to serve a human that was nothing more than livestock to her. Or, she just didn't care. The latter option seemed more probable.

"Ah, I think I should go now. I don't want to interrupt your meal," Mikaela fidgeted a little in his place.

"You don't disturb me at all. I would very much like company during dinner because I was... all alone for the past four years. But if it is uncomfortable for you, you don't have to stay." I couldn't remember the last time when someone had eaten together with me. Not that Mika could, but at least there would be someone there, which was all I wanted.

He looked unsure what to do. "Then I'll stay for a little longer."

We chatted for a while longer about trivial things while I ate. Mikaela wanted to know what the surface world really looked like now so I described everything I had seen on my short journey.

Mika seemed to be contemplating something the whole time and was visibly growing more and more worried the more I revealed. He had to be worried about Yū... Maybe I shouldn't have brought up the Horsemen, the cold weather and the miserable state the world was in. But there was no way to sugar coat it.

At least he looked a little livelier now. When I was done, Mikaela left and I wished him a good night. Or whatever time it was.

It was really hard to guess because the city was underground, my rooms had no windows, and not even a clock. This kind of made sense as vampires were immortal – would they truly care for time?

I was tired again so I decided to go to sleep, assuming that someone would wake me up when they wanted to talk to me, and got ready for bed. Another coughing fit inside the bathroom surprised me, but at least I managed to keep my clothes clean.

There were more clothes inside the dresser that were all my size – they had most likely been put there by whoever had brought the dress in the first place. I even found a nightgown and snuggled into the blankets of the four poster bed after putting it on.

I turned off the lights with the light switch that was right next to the bed and the room was engulfed in darkness.

It was ironic but even though I was surrounded by bloodsucking vampires, I slept better than I had in years.

* * *

As someone placed a new tray with food and water on the table, I awoke. In the dim light that shone in from the corridor I recognized the vampire from yesterday. She was gone after I had thanked her again, leaving my room in darkness. I guessed she didn't need light to find the table.

I stretched my arms and legs and switched on the light before hurriedly running into the bathroom as pain erupted in my chest, and I once again stained the sink red with blood.

I had to hold on to the sink while my breathing returned to normal again. It seemed that I was getting worse faster. I really didn't have much time left. I hoped that Krul would allow me to play the piano so I would be able to play it one last time before I died.

Who knew what would await me this time in the World of Death and afterwards.

After I was done with my bathroom routine, I changed, put on the locket and ate breakfast.

Someone entered the room without knocking just as I swallowed the last bit of my breakfast. I looked up to see René standing in the room, which instantly sent my pulse up. Did these vampires have to jump at me like that?!

"G-good morning," I greeted him politely. At least it was René, who seemed like a more reasonable vampire, and not Lacus. That would have been even worse.

"Queen Krul Tepes is awaiting you, human," he simply told me without reciprocating my greeting but in a polite tone, like before. René walked out of the room without further ado, clearly expecting me to follow him so I hurried and put on the slipper shoes I had found in my room.

Despite wearing them, I felt the cool floor under my feet through the thin fabric and shuddered. What I wouldn't do for some more heat plasters and self-heating pads. Or fluffy socks. Socks weren't appreciated enough.

Taking in my surroundings, the intricate hallways of Krul's palace, I memorized the way as we ventured through the corridors and ascended two pairs of stairs.

I had to use the banister as a support and moved incredibly slowly, which frustrated me. I had had so much stamina before my captivity, and I couldn't believe that I was wheezing and exhausted after climbing a pair of stairs when I had been able to do it just a few days ago. The travel, sickness, and that test the vampires had carried out on me had weakened me tremendously...

 _'Pathetic,'_ I thought angrily while balling my fist. All because of what the JIDA had done to me! René didn't say anything but watched me intently, his gaze prickling my skin. Perhaps he was doing so to keep me from falling down the stairs because that would inconvenience Krul by having to wait for me. He probably thought that humans were pathetic either way.

To my shame, I was out of breath once we reached the double doors to Krul's throne room and I had to suppress another coughing fit.

I stopped a few steps away from the stairs that led up to Krul and her throne after René had led me in.

"Good morning, your majesty. You wanted to talk to me?" I greeted her politely, overplaying my exhaustion.

"Yes. I want you to keep the matters we discussed yesterday secret. With the exception of Mikaela. He may know about the experiments the Imperial Demon Army conducted on humans. However, you shall not tell anyone apart from us of these matters or the test we did on you. It is best if as few people as possible know about your circumstances. Do you understand, human?" Krul asked me in a stern tone.

I bowed lightly,"Yes, I won't disclose such information to anyone else aside from you."

"Now, tell me, how was your chat with Mikaela?" Krul inquired in a lighter tone.

"It went well, I think. I liked talking to him – he seems like a really nice boy. But I would like to cheer him up somehow," I told her earnestly. I wasn't sure where she was going with all of this, but playing nice seemed like a good option, even if I had said nothing but the truth.

Why was Krul so fixated on him, apart from him being her prodigy, and what did she really want to achieve by letting him talk to me? That kind of bugged me. I doubted that Krul would do anything without a reason.

"You saw right through him," she stated and eyed me for a moment longer. "Mikaela informed me that you wish to play the piano?"

"Yes, if that is alright with you."

Krul made a nonchalant gesture with her hand. "Almost no one uses the music room anyway so you may use it. Mikaela will accompany you there later."

I hadn't expected such a fast positive answer and was pleasantly surprised. "Thank you, your majesty! You can join us and listen, too if you want to." Then another thought hit me. "Oh, and if it's not too much to ask, may I know what happened after I lost consciousness in the laboratory? Did you somehow remove the wings?"

Her eyes twinkled in… mild interest? "Actually they vanished on their own right when you lost consciousness." Hmm, maybe I had really reached the limit of my... "seraph mode" so I had lost the wings again?

Krul leaned forward on her throne. "I wonder if you can bring them out again together with your power?"

I had no idea if I could actively access my wings or the power again, seeing how I hadn't been entirely conscious when they appeared or disappeared.

"I can try to do it, but I'm not too sure how. And I think it might affect my health again…" I was sure their emergence and using them had worsened my already bad condition a lot faster and didn't want to risk losing more of the sparse time I had, but Krul didn't relent.

"Try it."

Per her order, I concentrated to evoke the feeling of my wings on my back and the cold, energizing power from inside me and after some time – more than half an hour – I felt something responding. My skin began to glow slightly from within, but no wings came out.

"And? Where are the wings and what about your other power?" Krul asked, sounding slightly tired of waiting.

"I... I don't know. I don't know how to... access them." I hoped my underwhelming performance didn't incur the vampire queen's wrath.

"Hmm, is that so? That is very disappointing." Krul eyed me for some more time while I tried to call the wings forth somehow or a hint of that cold power. Just concentrating on the task consumed more and more physical power from me and soon my breathing grew heavier again.

It didn't help that Krul's expectant staring was making me really nervous. More nervous and anxious than I already was in her presence. Those crimson eyes were intimidating.

"That's enough," Krul interjected at some point and I let go of my concentration. The glow underneath my skin subsided. I felt rather drained mentally, emotionally, and physically...

"Let us chat some more about the Japanese Imperial Demon Army, human."

I wasn't allowed to leave so fast.

* * *

 **A/N:** I hope you liked the interaction between Krul and Vivian, as well as the one with Mika! Mika is such a precious cinnamon roll~


	7. Matters Of Interest (Part 1)

********Disclaimer** : ******I don't own Owari no Seraph, its plot or characters, or any other mentioned books, songs, or series. They belong to their respective owners. I only own my OCs and the plot that deviates from canon or doesn't exist in canon. This is a non-profit fan fiction just for fun.

 **Beta reader: haelyeon**

 ** _To AkazawaIzumi:_** There will be more Mika in this chapter (there can never be enough of him), so I hope you enjoy this one, too :D No problem, I love replying to reviews – I've discovered that it's one of the most fun things to do here, aside from reading fanfics of course xD – so I was really excited and happy to see that you left one again!

I'm glad that you like the idea with the wings; it really _is_ convenient that they vanish. Imagine if you would have to shower or bath with them... and walking around with them all the time would give you the worst back pains ever. But I decided that they would work on a similiar basis as Mirai and Yū's that also conveniently disappear for some reason when they leave the "Seraph Mode". I'm blaming it on magic.

Vivian went accidentally into her "Seraph Mode" and kind of used all of it up (like a battery runs out of juice) during the test, which brought her body to its limits and let the wings disappear. Naturally, she won't be able to use those powers again so soon (they kind of need to recharge, plus her body is in a bad condition) or be able to control them right away. _That_ would definitely be too convenient. More about Vivian's abilities will be cleared up in this chapter.

 **A/N:** I also want to thank **Charlotte M. Baldonado** and **eragon95159** for leaving a review, everyone who followed and/or favourited _Between Two Worlds,_ and all the other readers!

There is a little fluff and bonding happening in this chapter to make up for all the angst in the previous ones. Enjoy!

* * *

 **Chapter 7** **– Matters Of Interest (Part 1)**

 _ **Royal Audience Chamber, Sanguinem, January, 2017**_

 _"How does that human have these peculiar wings and powers, Elias? They are unlike anything I have ever witnessed before," Krul questioned the vampire physician of her faction that had conducted Vivian's examination._

 _"I shall be honest… I don't exactly know, your majesty. She doesn't possess the seraph gene, nor is she cursed by the Seraph of the End, that is for sure. However, the girl herself provided rather strange readings when we checked her with spells to confirm whether she carried a seraph or not. We weren't able to identify if it was just a reaction to the injected seraph cells from another host, an echo of sorts, or something entirely else."_

 _The stoic vampire paused before he commenced his explanation, "The emergence of the wings and her ability to create some kind of pathway might have been triggered by the constant injection of the seraph cells, but it could also be connected to her uncommon magic readings._

 _"We're not sure what is responsible for what. The unusual readings might also be an explanation to how she survived the seraph cells for so long and to how her body accepted them up to a certain point before the rejection process started. She could be just a failed seraph, or perhaps the humans succeeded in creating an artificial angel that is similar to a seraph this time. But that is only speculation on my part."_

 _Elias Feher was a devoted and loyal servant to the queen, even in matters concerning the Seraph of the End, that had been forbidden by the Progenitor Council. The vampire had been one of the servants who had collected the Hyakuya orphans from the orphanage and had given them a health check-up. He didn't want to cross the Third Progenitor, one of the strongest vampires of the Progenitor Council and beyond, out of self-preservation._

 _Krul was deep in thoughts, contemplating her future course of action and weighing her options._

 _"Shall I issue some medicine for the human that slows down the rejection process?" Elias inquired, guessing that the queen might want to have the human alive for some time longer._

 _"No, that won't be necessary, but give the human some pain killers so she'll be clear of mind when I interrogate her."_

 _"Yes, Queen Krul."_

 _After being provided with more information on the girl, she left the room to welcome her new "guest"._

 _For now, the Third Progenitor would keep the failed seraph – at this point, it wouldn't matter anymore for Krul had already broken the rules of the Progenitor Council concerning the Seraph of the End before by keeping the Hyakuya orphans alive._

 _Even if she was in the process of dying, at the very least, the human girl could give Krul more insight on the JIDA's internal workings, and maybe she could learn more about what Hiiragi Mahiru was doing these days._

 _They had made a deal after all and Krul didn't like to be kept waiting more than she already had._

* * *

Again, Mikaela visited after I had eaten lunch and took me to the music room with two guards in dark grey cloaks monitoring us. I wondered why they were there. Krul knew that I wouldn't and couldn't escape. Were they here to protect me or Mika from other vampires?

Or were they here to supervise Mika? Had he tried to escape again after becoming a vampire and was now in need of supervision? If that was the case, I could understand him.

Yū was still out there and Mika was being forced to stay in Sanguinem, in this mansion. Of course, he'd much rather be with his last remaining family. But he would be at risk if he went outside without any fighting abilities to keep himself safe from the JIDA or other humans who could take vampires down. Above that, he didn't know where Yū was at them moment.

And there was the issue with his new _diet_ , too. So Krul kept him most likely confined for now for a reason. Perhaps he was not as compliant at this time yet – Mika couldn't have been a vampire for long. Even though he had talked to me as ordered by Krul, he might not always listen to her and thus was still monitored. I hadn't questioned her why she gave him that order because I didn't want Krul to revoke it.

The music room was as tasteful as the rest of the palace. When I saw the beautiful black grand piano standing in the middle of the room in the midst of other instruments, I almost broke out in tears.

I got really excited and bounced to the bench with a huge smile on my face. Mika sat down in a seat next to it as I opened the lid. My fingers stroked gently over the keys to test if it was still in tune. To my delight, it was.

I decided to warm up with some of my favourite classics – 'Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy' by Tchaikovsky followed by 'In the hall of the mountain King' by Grieg. I let it merge with Beethoven's 'Moonlight Sonata', my best friend's favourite song. It was also a small pun between us as Shinya's name meant 'deep night' or 'midnight', and the moonlight only shone in the middle of the night.

I smiled at Mika while I played the nostalgic tunes without needing sheets to play them. I loved to play the piano just for myself, but I also liked to show off my skills from time to time and to share my music. I hardly would have wanted to become a pianist if I didn't, even if I also had some stage fright in front of a larger group of spectators.

"Do you like stories, Mikaela?" I asked him after I had played the last tune of Shinya's favourite song.

"Yes."

"Then I will tell you one about companionship and adventures. It's one of my favourites."

The door to the music room opened.

"I see you've already started," Krul observed while she sat down on another intricate chair next to Mika. I was happy that she had accepted my invitation yet also nervous to have her here. For some reason, I wasn't afraid in Mika's presence even though he was a vampire, too. Perhaps it was the eyes and the knowledge that he didn't drink human blood.

"Just with the warm up. I was about to start a story accompanied by the piano. I hope you like it. This story begins with a wizard that visits one of his old friends in a peaceful land called the Shire…"

I began to retell the story of 'the Hobbit' that didn't exist in this world while I played the themes. I had read the books and had watched the films often enough to remember almost every dialogue. It was a tragedy and mystery why Tolkien's books didn't exist in this world.

I watched the expressions of Mikaela and Krul as I told them the story of the first Hobbit film. Mikaela seemed to enjoy it to a degree, and Krul seemed to be at least not completely bored – all I could ask for.

Once I thought I had told enough for one day and my stomach started to growl from hunger I stopped.

"So, how did you like it, Mikaela?" I asked him as I closed the piano's lid.

"It was... nice. I haven't heard a story like this on piano before."

"I have to agree – it was entertaining at least. I have never heard these melodies before. I also didn't expect this kind of skill and proficiency from you, human." Did that mean that she liked it? Krul was hard to read and interpret. I had no idea what she was thinking.

"This was part one of six. If you want, I could play one part every few days for you from now on," I suggested.

"Do it. I don't get to enjoy unheard stories often." Krul stood up and left the room in silent strides. I guessed that was a valid problem if you lived forever.

My gaze fell back on Mikaela. "Did you perform this... story for your friends, too?" he asked me.

"Yeah. Especially for Mako-chan and Shū. They loved it and I had to play it for them every time they visited me after New Year." I smiled fondly at the memory. Then my expression grew sombre.

"To be honest, Mikaela, I came to Sanguinem first and foremost to search for my friends, and to make a deal with the vampire queen to ensure their safety. Everything else comes after that."

I paused and turned to look at the boy. "I didn't want to disclose this in the throne room in front of the others, but I know I can tell you this. There is a chance that two of my younger friends, Mako-chan and Shū I've told you about, were taken to Sanguinem because they lived in Nagoya," I confided in Mikaela.

His sky blue eyes widened a little in surprise. I just knew that I could trust him, not only because I vaguely knew him as character from the series.

It was a gut-feeling.

"You came here for your family?"

I nodded in response and smiled at him. "I hope I can find them and make sure that they are safe before I die."

Mika stared at me before the air around him became downcast again. "...I don't understand how you can tell me this. We barely know each other. How can you trust someone you just met not to endanger the family you're trying to protect?" Mikaela was suspicious of my motives. He had every right to. Not all of them were selfless... were there even some that were selfless?

"Hmm… I just know that I can trust you, Mikaela. It's a feeling I have – you could call it instinct!" I explained and grinned. It was the truth, and I had to give Mika my trust first if I wanted him to open up to me a little, too – I _wanted_ to trust him. Trust wasn't a one-way street and needed to be earned.

Mikaela looked slightly disbelieving. "Instinct…?" he repeated in a sceptic tone.

"Yep," I chirped. "Plus, you're adorable and have that sort of face that screams responsible and trustworthy~." I tried to keep down the swooning over him, because I knew it would be strange to express that towards an almost total stranger but... twelve-year-old Mika was just... Ugh. Too adorable. He could hold the candle to a younger Shinya, Mako-chan or Shū. I had the urge to hug him whenever I looked at him.

The boy blushed slightly over my compliments but seemed troubled by them at the same time. "That's…?" He was searching for the right word.

"It's okay if you think I'm weird. Believe me, you wouldn't be the first one," I responded happily.

"I was about to say... creepy." I laughed at his cheeky response. Ah, Mika was a little ruder than I thought he would be. Not that I minded. Any reaction from him was good and better than that empty expression with eyes full of pain.

"You wouldn't believe how often I've been called that, too." A child prodigy that tends to speak and act like an adult at times? Yeah, that was creepy. Some adults and older children had been quite put-off by my behaviour.

"No... actually, I think I do."

I clutched at my heart in mock hurt. So I was creepy in his eyes, huh? "Ouch. Right in the feels. Despite your angelic face you're quite the little devil, aren't you?"

"I don't know what you are talking about," Mika denied, the corners of his mouth twitching.

* * *

"Say, can you play an instrument, too, Mikaela? I've noticed you staring at the violin cases," I asked him one day after our daily talking sessions.

He nodded. "I can play the violin a little. My mother made me attend lessons before... she died."

I was surprised to hear this. "Oh, I see... If you still want to play the violin, I could teach you a little. Apart from the piano, I also know how to play the violin."

The boy appeared contemplative. "It's been a while since I've played, and I wasn't more than a beginner back then..."

"That's fine. It's been a while for me, too," I reassured him.

"Then... maybe I'll take you up on that offer. It's not like I have anything better to do," he mumbled the last part.

I stood up from my place on the bench and retrieved one of the violins, testing the instrument out and checking if it was still in tune. Afterwards, I held the violin out to Mika, who appeared slightly reluctant to take it.

"Don't be scared of it. It's not going to bite you~," I joked, which earned me a slightly exasperated but also... desperate look.

"How can you even make a joke like that here in this place?"

"It's precisely because I'm in a place like this that I should make jokes like this. If I let myself fall into despair now, there would be no meaning to holding on for so long. The least I can do now is to enjoy the last days of my life – that is exactly what I would want my friends to do if they were in my position," I explained and held Mika's gaze for some time.

He seemed to be either mulling over my words, or he was stuck in his own thoughts. After a while, he tentatively took the offered instrument into his hands. I smiled as Mika began to play the first tune.

"We're going to have lots of fun together~!"

* * *

 _"If no one has any more questions, let's start with the test of courage! Shinya-senpai, Kido-san, you volunteered to be the first ones," Okumura-kun, one of my classmates, announced._

 _In my last year of middle school I had informed Shinya of the test of courage some of my classmates had wanted to do the in the middle of the summer vacation. My friend had promptly invited himself because it sounded like fun to him, somehow being able to make time for it. As usual, Shinya had introduced himself without a last name._

 _"Aww, I wanted to be the one to go with Shinya-senpai~!" Sakamoto Aina, also known as "boyfriend stealer" for she had managed to pinch two other classmates' boyfriends, complained. Not at the same time, but in the same month. The fourteen year-old girl was clutching Shinya's arm to her already voluptuous chest. She had jumped at my best friend like a wolf out for fresh meat the moment she had seen him._

 _My eyebrow twitched in displeasure. This had been going on for a few minutes now but Shinya hadn't told her off while listening to class rep Okumura's description of the way and an explanation of the test, which quite annoyed me for some reason. I bet he was enjoying this, the little pervert – judging from the entertained smile that Shinya threw me, that was the case._

 _"Can't I go with Kido-san?" Hasegawa Takuma inquired. He had invited himself, too, after hearing about it. His determination to woo me was beginning to give me some creepier vibes at times. Kaori rolled her eyes and whispered something to Akira. Despite her being initially all for it, she had come to develop a small aversion against Hasegawa-kun._

 _Maybe it was just our imagination, but somehow Hasegawa-kun's smile and attitude, even his interest in me, seemed forced at times. I wondered why he didn't just give up on me if he was tired of me._

 _"Nope. I'm sorry but Vivi-chan is such a scaredy-cat that she might even pee in her pants during the test. And as it is, I'm carrying the bag with the spare panties," Shinya interjected, finally removing himself from the watermelon-alike breasts of the other teen, winking towards me as he did so._

 _What was that about?_

 _Some of the guys from my class laughed, made some comments, or whistled at his words, and even some of the girls giggled. Great. This was going to be the hot topic of school gossip for the next months._

 _"Let's go Vivi-chan~," Shinya took me by the hand, towards the path into the woods, with a delighted smile. I fumed internally, equally angry and embarrassed about what he had just blurted out in front of my whole class plus Hasegawa-kun._

 _"Shinya-nii! What the hell was that about?! There are no spare panties in the bag, and I'm not going to piss myself either!" I growled when we were far enough away from the others. The sun was almost completely down now, so we had to use a flashlight – only one was allowed._

 _"Ahaha~," the idiot had the nerve to laugh. I was going to smack him where it hurt! Unfortunately, Shinya easily sidestepped me and caught my hands. "But the others would have questioned then why I'm carrying a bag around with me, Vivi-chan. That would have jeopardized our plan."_

 _He wasn't wrong..._

 _"Besides, you actually peed in your pants that one time when I showed you another one of my jumpscare videos," Shinya added smoothly in that sing-sang way of speaking that I had become used to... and despised at times like this._

 _"It was a drop, Shinya! One teeny-weeny drop!" I cried and stomped on his foot. So what if I was afraid of jumpscares, scary things, or horror films? I had no idea why the teen liked to scare me._

 _"Ouch!" my friend yelped and let got of my wrists._

 _"Hmph!" I turned away and crossed my arms. "I liked the younger Shinya better. He was a sweetie and never so mean to me like you are now," I pettily complained._

 _There was something like a sigh and mumbling from Shinya's direction but he replied in his usual airy tone. "Aww~ But aren't I such a nice friend? I dropped everything so I could help you to scare the living daylights out of your classmates on this test."_

 _"Whether I'm going to forgive you for embarrassing me in front of my whole class will be determined by your performance tonight," I explained as I pulled a hideous oni mask and costume out of the bag, courtesy of my white-haired friend._

 _"Then I'll just have to do my best, don't I? I'll be sure to take looooots of pictures of your classmates. In incriminating positions, too~. That way you can blackmail them not to reveal what I said about you today and for whatever else you want," Shinya said and began to put on his own costume._

 _The idea of blackmail material pacified me, and I snickered. "We're so evil... Scaring a bunch of teenagers out of their guts just for fun and for bribery." I swear, Shinya was the one who was giving me these ideas! I was never such a prankster in my first life, but... I never had so much fun with anyone else for that matter either._

 _"Partners in crime~?" Shinya held out his hand to me with a smile, which I took._

 _"Always," I replied with a smirk before we got to work._

"... did you really pee into your pants, Vivian-san?" Mika inquired in a bemused tone after having listened to my successful prank story. The incriminating pictures of my classmates were still at my old home. Some had already been used to prevent the story about the panty-issue from spreading.

While Mika and I had continued our daily chats I had somehow I ended up recounting some interesting stories.

Was that the only thing Mika had heard?! "No, I didn't! Shinya lied."

The boy's expression said disbelief. "So, it sounds like you and this Shinya-san got along really well and were a good team, but you also got into a lot of fights..." This one hadn't been the first shenanigan with Shinya that I had recounted.

"Yeah, you could say that. I swear it was Shinya's fault most of the time because he teased me so much."

"...I'm not sure I can believe that."

At the thought of my friend, I was once more saddened as I came back to reality. "I wish that I could meet him again. I miss him," I whispered and brought my hand up to my locket, clutching the object like a lifeline.

Mika gave me an empathetic look. We both knew that my wish wouldn't be fulfilled.

"I... I have someone I want to see again, too. But I don't know if I should…" Mikaela told me with an expression I could identify as dejection. I was certain that he was talking about Yū; still, I was surprised and happy at the small leap of faith Mika finally gave me. Was he uncertain if he should meet Yū again because he had become a vampire who were despised by Yū with all his heart?

"If this person is important to you, then I'm sure it's the other way around, too. I'm sure they want to see you again as well," I told him with conviction, wishing I could help him with it. "And as long you are able to meet them again, you should take the opportunity. Not everyone gets one in this world."

Mika and Yū deserved a reunion without a sword through the chest. Unfortunately, it was improbable that I would survive for that long and would be able to change anything about it.

Ah, I would never witness one of my favourite ships even though I was here. How disappointing. And I would never see Shinya again, though there was still some hope in regard to Makoto and Shūsaku.

"...You seem like a surprisingly good person," Mika mumbled out of nowhere. How did he come up with this so sudden?

While I wanted to believe that I wasn't a bad person, I wouldn't really describe myself as a good person either. All the reasons for my journey to Sanguinem were born out of selfishness.

I wanted to see my friends again and made it my goal protect them in whatever way I could. I wanted to make the JIDA pay to satisfy my own need for revenge and to clear my conscience. In one sentence; I simply wanted to do what I thought was right.

Wanting to help Mika was due to my own complacency – I wanted to achieve something good with the time I had left, wanted another purpose for my remaining time... and I didn't want to be alone. The last years had been enough for me. I didn't want to die alone, not again.

Looking down at my hands that rested on my thighs, I commented, "Maybe I am, maybe I am not. I just... I didn't want to die a meaningless death." Not after holding on for so long.

"I heard your reasons in the Royal Audience Chamber. And you dared to come to Sanguinem for the sake of your family, too, so you can't be that bad... Even if you might be a little messed up in the head for that." I was seriously touched and equally amused by his words. But he didn't know what I had buried deep in my soul. What I had done, and he never would.

"Thank you, Mikaela."

The loud growling of my stomach destroyed the moment.

"That sounded like the mating call of a whale," Mika noted.

I snickered at his comment. "It did, didn't it?" Then I realised... "Wait, did you just indirectly call me fat, Mika?" There was a slight edge to my tone.

I swear there was a small smile on the boy's face for a second. "I'll take you to your room, Vivian-san." Mikaela jumped down from his seat and opened the door for me like a gentleman. I followed the little devil in disguise with a content smile on my face.

* * *

"What are you doing here, sneaking around in the corridors of my mansion, Ferid Bathory?" Krul asked the vampire who had been standing just around the corner of the corridor that led to the music room. He held up his hands in defence at Krul's irritated tone.

"I heard music and merely wanted to listen to it, my dear Krul. That isn't a crime, is it? It can be so boring here in Sanguinem, so I was intrigued by these new melodies, and who was playing them. Is there a reason why you are hiding this new... pianist?" Ferid asked with a smirk.

"Keep your nose out of my business. I'm still angry at you for killing my seraphs and letting one escape. Another mistake like that could cost you your head – for final. Blackmail material or not," Krul threatened him.

"Aha, I see~. Then I will take my leave for now until you've cooled your head a bit, my lovely queen." Ferid left Krul standing in the corridor.

Krul's protectiveness of the human girl made him even more eager to see her with his own eyes. One of the children that regularly visited his mansion had told him of the girl with the wings that had been brought to Sanguinem.

It had piqued his interest immediately, even more so after he had sneaked into the laboratories and had seen records of her before they were erased. One thing Ferid appreciated in his eternal boredom were surprises that amused him.

And that human was definitely one.

The queen had most likely decided to keep the failed seraph for her own plans, or what she _believed_ were her own plans. It wouldn't be difficult to keep tabs on Krul.

And one other thing bugged the Seventh Progenitor. How had the human come so close to Sanguinem all on her own? Or even escaped from where she was being held in the first place? That couldn't be a mere coincidence nor a stroke of luck.

Was his partner involved? Did she hold some significance to them? Was she released to come to Sanguinem for a reason, or, the less probable and more foolish option, did the girl come to Kyōto by herself all the way up from Shibuya to get her revenge like she proclaimed? In these times that was quite a perilous journey for a human, even one with some seraph abilities.

All in all, the situation with the human was intriguing and Ferid could use another distraction to pass the time. He also needed to make sure that she wouldn't interfere with his plans.

Ferid could doubtlessly incorporate her in them after finding out more about the girl and knew how to manipulate her, so first he had to gather information on her. Or he could simply wait for her to die, which wouldn't be long from now on. But that was too boring of an option.

The Seventh Progenitor wondered how much she was worth to Krul. How far the other progenitor would go to keep her.

 _'This shall be an enlightening discovery,'_ he thought to himself while he formed a new plan with the human in mind, a hollow smile on his lips.

* * *

The days went by in similar fashion – I would tell Krul some more things I knew, I'd play the piano for her and Mika as we would talk some more, and we'd practice the violin with him afterwards. One day however, I went to Krul's throne room as usual to answer some more of her questions. I greeted her and bowed.

"Human, there are some things about you that don't add up. Your method of escape was too convenient, and it should be impossible for you to know so many details when you were nothing but a simple test subject. You know too much about the Japanese Imperial Demon Army. Tell me, are you working for the Demon Army, or were you working for them?" Krul came straight to the point.

 _Shit!_ In the end, I must have told her too much, too eager for their downfall. I had included my knowledge from the series together with what I had been told by the doctors, as well as what I had figured out myself and what I had overheard from the staff. Seeing how that person, who was supposed to help me escape, was a bit too sketchy, I had kept silent about that mystery.

Would this be my downfall?

The vampire queen scrutinized me with her eyes. Krul didn't look very friendly, the hollowness in her eyes adding to my terror.

"No, I really don't! Please believe me, your majesty," I hurried to say as my heart jumped up my throat.

"Do you work for someone else who wants to undermine the power of the vampires or my rule?"

"No, I don't."

"Then is it your own goal to deceive me for some hidden motive?"

"No, my motives are as I have told you," I assured her, sweat droplets forming across my forehead at her intimidating aura.

"Still, that doesn't explain how you know such an amount of information… You are hiding something," Krul observed.

My traitorous heart made another jump – I was sure that she could hear it – for I hadn't expected to be found out this soon. I couldn't tell Krul that I knew most of these things from my past life in another dimension, where this all had been nothing more than a story. My mind raced to find a way to get out of this predicament.

Suddenly, Krul was right in front of me on the stairs and held my chin to lower my head to her eye level. My gaze met hers – it was as if she had hypnotised me with her crimson eyes, forced still out of fear.

"What are you hiding?" Her voice was soft yet demanding and left no room for excuses.

"I-I'm not really hiding anything… I-I've just listened to what the researchers said in my presence, overheard some more of the staff talking, and put two and two together," I fibbed, hoping she would believe me. I was a rather bad liar so I settled with half truths or omitting things to get over that discrepancy.

"That was only a half truth, I can tell when you lie, human. Don't lie again and spill your secret right now or I will have to resort to other measures to make you talk," she easily saw through me.

I was in some deep shit. Why did I think it was a good idea to come here, again? What should I do? Should I really tell her about my past life?

I could just remain silent, but would Krul torture me to get the information out of me? I had told her Mako-chan and Shūsaku's name and had given Krul their description a few days ago, so she could look in the cities' livestock register for them – she knew their names.

My heartbeat accelerated further in fear and apprehension at that thought. It seemed as if Krul had read my thoughts.

"There are many ways to make you talk, human. While you personally seem to be rather…steadfast and immune against threats to your life, it isn't the same when your friends' lives are threatened, is it? I could let Makoto and Shūsaku suffer in front of your eyes while you are unable to help them. Or, I could make Mikaela feed on your blood against his will – you seem to have come to like him, even though I'm sure you've noticed that he is a vampire. I would rather not resort to such vile methods, but I will if I must," Krul threatened me.

The blood drained from my face at her threat. Had she really found them?! Damn, this was why I had been so reluctant about telling her their names – what I was doing was more than risky.

Would I lose Makoto and Shū right away again? ...No, Krul could be lying about having found them, but there still was the issue with Mika. It would be more torture for him than me if he was forced to suck my blood.

I would just die sooner than expected, but Mika would live on and blame himself, possibly not even dare to seek out Yū so his friend would never see him as a monster. Had that been Krul's plan all along when she sent Mika to chat with me?

To make me become attached to Mika so she would have leverage against me, or him depending on if he cared about me at all? She must have figured out that my attachment to my friends was the only way to get to me.

Krul had seen right through me. She had the appearance of a child but was a more than thousand-year-old being. I thought myself to be safe with my knowledge about her but I wasn't. I should have never underestimated the Third Progenitor and assumed that I could manipulate her to my advantage without getting analysed and figured out by her at the same time.

The one thing I would never do, was to play with the lives of my friends. For the safety of Mika and the others I would tell Krul my biggest secret. A secret I had told no one else before. My only consolation was that it was Krul who would come to know about it and not Ferid. That vampire was the least trustworthy out of all.

"No, please don't harm my friends or Mika! I will tell you how I gained my knowledge, but... it's a rather unbelievable story, even if it is the truth," I began with a heavy heart. She finally let go of my chin – I was sure it would bruise from the force she had held it with.

"Tell me this _unbelievable_ story then," Krul commanded.

Doomed, I was doomed.

* * *

 **A/N** : I hope you liked the scenes with Mika and Ferid being sneaky! Please leave a review to tell me what you think :)


	8. Matters Of Interest (Part 2)

********Disclaimer** : ******I don't own Owari no Seraph, its plot or characters, or any other mentioned books, songs, or series. They belong to their respective owners. I only own my OCs and the plot that deviates from canon or doesn't exist in canon. This is a non-profit fan fiction just for fun.

 _ **To my guest reviewer from March 6:**_ I feel honoured that you think so and like what I've written so far! Thank you for the praise! It put a smile on my face :)

 _ **To my guest reviewer from March 7:**_ Yes, yes, she's going to tell Krul and it's going to have consequences~. See how it turns out for Vivian in this chapter and the next! I'm glad that you like how I built up her relationships with the other characters and that she didn't connect the dots right away as to where she was. I always fear that I'm rushing things a little at times, but I really try not to and to keep it believable.

 ** _To AkazawaIzumi:_** xD You're absolutely right with Ferid. He is going to pop up when you least expect it just to mess with you and your life... I can't help hating but also loving that fabulous bastard at the same time.

 **A/N:** My thanks to everyone who has left a review, followed, favourited, and read _Between Two Worlds_ this far! Somehow I'm not quite satisfied with this chapter, but I hope you enjoy it!

* * *

 **Chapter 8 – Matters Of Interest (Part 2)**

Before I began my tale I took a deep breath to regain my composure _._ It didn't really help. Her senses would tell Krul right away if I lied, but the truth would sound crazy... Damn it, I was seriously screwed.

"I know this expanse of information about the Demon Army from my past life," I started, wanting to get it over with fast before I lost my voice out of fear, and watched Krul for her reaction, who was in turn observing me.

She furrowed her brows. "Don't take me for a fool, human."

A strangled noise escaped me. "I'm not deceiving you! You wanted the truth and that's what I'm going to give to you, even if it sounds like complete and utter nonsense."

Krul's red eyes gleamed ominously. A drop of sweat ran down my neck. Maybe I should not have agreed myself that my explanation sounded like the ramblings of a lunatic.

"Go on with your tale then," came the surprising command that I quickly obliged.

The vampire queen received the basic rundown about my completely normal former world without any apocalypses or supernatural creatures.

"...and there were shows, films and _books_ that don't exist here. One particular story, titled 'Owari no Seraph', was one of them," I ended my explanation and waited, tense for her reaction.

"Your heartbeat stayed regular and your voice didn't get slightly higher... Tell me more about your supposed past life and how you _died_ , human," Krul said thoughtfully after a while as she observed my every reaction with hawk eyes, her face devoid of any emotion.

I gulped and followed her demand, not daring to do otherwise. "My name was Eva Veith and I was born on the 17th of April in the year 1994 in Austria. My family and I lived in a small town close to Vienna for all of my life. I grew up as an only child – my mother was a music teacher and my father a journalist."

"Inspired by my mother's teachings, I was aiming to become a music teacher and pianist myself. But I died at the age of twenty-four on the 15th of October in the year 2018 when I felt a sharp pain inside my head, possibly due to some kind of brain aneurysm, so I never accomplished that dream. On that day I was taking a stroll through the Vienna Woods in the morning, but then, the next thing I knew was… the darkness," I paused for a moment to catch my breath.

The World of Death and everything that followed was what I described to her next; the Angel of Death, the crystalline door, that had been the same as the one that I had produced during the test, and that I got reborn.

Krul still looked sceptic but contemplative. "You would have to be completely insane, tired of life, or willing to risk the life of your friends, for whom you have gone to such great lengths to to protect, to come up with such a fantastical story to tell me."

...That was certainly a valid way to put it. "You believe me then?"

"Of course not," she huffed. "But I think that _you_ believe that you are telling the truth." Okay, I was confused now. "Why don't you switch to German and tell me what you know about this supposedly fictional world of ours? What do you know about me?"

She had a point. After not having spoken or having read anything in German for over four years, I was a little out of practise. Regardless, I also let my native Austrian accent show through to prove that I had been honest. The accent wasn't that easy to fake and someone who had just learned German as a foreign language wouldn't be able to copy it without some serious practise.

" _I know that you are over one thousand years old and were turned into a vampire by the First Progenitor,"_ I began and recounted in which state Krul had found Mika in and how she had turned him into a vampire. Poor Mika got not only robbed of his first kiss by Krul, but also of his humanity.

" _Ferid Bathory killed all of the other Hyakuya orphans apart from only one whom he let escape. I also know that you have an older brother with the name… Ashera Tepes._ "

He was one of the characters I had read more about. Krul narrowed her eyes when I mentioned her brother's name.

" _What do you know about Ashera?_ " she asked me in perfect standard German. In the first second I was surprised to hear it from her, but then again, Krul had endless time to learn anything she desired.

" _He is a demon with the name Asuramaru now and has been sealed into a cursed weapon, a katana."_ I described her his appearance that I remembered from the anime. _"He looked to be around fourteen, and I almost confused him as a girl because of his androgynous looks when he first appeared in the story..._ "

Some other things came up in my mind. " _He seemed to be staring up at the sky a lot."_ Not that he had any other hobbies in that mindscape. " _Oh, and his fringe hides one of his eyes a little like this..._ " I demonstrated it with my own too long fringe.

Shock and recognition crossed Krul's features until she reigned them back in – it was the first time I saw her expressing so much emotion – while I described her brother thanks to my good anime character memory. Sometimes I remembered them better than real-life people. Just where did I set my priorities in life...?

" _Do you know Ashera's whereabouts?_ " Krul seemed eager to know them although she remained nonchalant outwardly. But there was a gleam in her eyes that hadn't been there before. Was it... hope? Krul was hard to read but she wouldn't have asked if she wasn't interested. Also, was she now convinced that I was being truthful?

" _Not the exact ones at this time yet. But I know who will take him as a weapon in a few years if you are interested in it._ "

" _Tell me about it._ " Oh, she definitely wanted to know this one, regardless where my knowledge came from. And now I had something in my hand against Krul, too. I had to play this card right, so I could turn the tables and finally get what I wanted, even though this was the riskiest, most dangerous move I would probably ever do right after coming to Sanguinem. Somehow I did seem to play poker with my life a lot lately.

" _Will you kill me once I've told you everything I know? And what about my friends' safety?_ " she was questioned by me in return while I watched her reaction. There was none so far...

" _You also have to consider that if I tell you everything I know, you may act differently than in the story, consciously or subconsciously, and things might change for the worse for you as a result. Ashera might get taken by someone else or to a place no one knows about. My knowledge is limited. It is only worth something if some things stay the same here as in the story,_ " I pointed out.

The vampire queen scowled but remained silent for a long time during which more cold sweat ran down my back. " _This situation has become troublesome."_ Krul tapped her lips with a finger before she continued.

" _In the wrong hands all this knowledge you seem to possess could be very dangerous..._ " Krul looked me in the eye again. " _But it could also be an advantage._ _Whose side are you on, human, and what would you do about Mikaela if you lived longer?_ "

What was this about Mika again? " _I'm definitely not on the Demon Army's side, but I don't like how vampires treat humans either. However, they don't experiment on people. Well, it's hard to say. In the end I_ _did_ _come here. The reason for that are you, Krul Tepes. I knew that you were the Vampire Queen of Japan, and that I did have a chance of survival and getting what I wanted if I partnered up with you,_ " I revealed my motives.

As I hadn't read the entire story before I died, I didn't know what exactly her plans were, but I thought she cared somewhat for Mika and the other orphans that died in Ferid Bathory's ploy.

" _So, you could say that I am on your side, Krul Tepes. If I lived for a little longer, I would help Mika in whatever way I could. As you've already noticed, I've become very attached to him._ "

A contemplative expression was on Krul's face. " _My side, huh? Did you ever tell anyone else about the things you know from your... past life?_ "

" _No, never."_ Not even my parents and friends had known that I remembered my past life. It was doubtful that anyone would have believed me anyway and I didn't want to end up in an insane asylum, thank you very much. Even Krul, a supernatural creature whose keen senses served as a natural lie detector, had a hard time believing me.

" _I didn't even notice that I was in the world of 'Owari no Seraph' until I was captured on the day of the apocalypse and heard about the Seraph of the End project in that facility. You are the only one who knows about that now and that I have been reincarnated_."

Krul was visibly pleased with that. " _That is very fortunate. It should remain that way, no matter where your knowledge truly comes from. I know interfering or knowing about the future may lead to different outcomes, but reveal to me who will receive my brother as a weapon. I will not act unless it is the_ _right time._ "

" _O-only if you give me your honest word that no harm will ever come to Shūsaku, Makoto and my other friends from vampirekind, and guarantee me their safety,_ " I demanded now that I had something against Krul in my hand though I knew that I was playing with fire.

This... manipulating people with what they wanted was a vile business, and I didn't particularly like it, nor did I like the playing poker when the stakes were so high, but I didn't have any other options at the moment.

I should have expected to be grabbed by my neck again for this bold demand, but it still came as a surprise when Krul suddenly took me off my feet.

What was it with vampires and strangling people?! I clutched at her unrelenting hand but even though it was smaller than mine, it didn't budge a millimetre. My throat was feeling as if it was one fire and my lungs began to scream for air while my heart raced in fear.

" _Tell me about Ashera right now, human,_ " Krul growled, squeezing once more before she let me go and I fell on my knees.

I coughed and gasped for air but even as nothing but fear and dread was coursing through me, I managed to muster up a glare at the vampire. She would never get what she wanted – information about her brother – if she killed me, so this was just a try to intimidate me to make me talk. Hopefully.

" _N-no! Not until..._ " I coughed once more, " _you've promised me my friends' safety and lives... and mean it._ " My life would be over soon, but I could still somewhat ensure my friends' safety like this. At least the vampires wouldn't be allowed to kill them.

Once more the vampire queen narrowed her eyes and anger was displayed on her features. " _You are playing a very dangerous game, human."_ Krul had never been more fearsome than at this moment.

She glared at me for a moment longer, but then she said, _"I, Third Progenitor Krul Tepes and Queen of Japan, give you my word that these humans of yours will receive my protection and will be safe here if they are ever found_. _Are you satisfied now, greedy human?_ "

So the vampire had lied earlier about Shūsaku and Makoto – no, Krul had never explicitly said that she had found them. It had been a false conclusion on _my_ side. Krul really knew how to play mind games.

" _Yes. Thank you,_ " I croaked with my now sore and hurting throat. " _And... I'm sorry that I used someone who is dear to you against you to protect the people that are dear to_ _me_ _."_ It wasn't a lie – I really meant it and sent Krul an apologetic look though I was also immensely pissed and scared out of my wits about what had just happened.

Before I could continue, I had to clear my throat once more. " _Yūichirō Hyakuya will receive Ashera as a demon weapon in a few years..._ " If everything would happen like in canon.

The vampire queen watched me for a few seconds longer as if to ascertain herself of my honesty and I held her gaze. Then Krul walked up to her throne and plopped down on it, propping her head on her hand. The one eyed bat fluttered up at her motion.

A small smile appeared on her face. Did she like this outcome? It was certainly good because she wanted both Ashera and Yū back. She could kill two birds with one stone in the future.

" _You can go now, human. That was everything. Remember that I don't like liars and unpredictable people."_

" _Long time exposure to_ _Ferid Bathory, huh?_ " the dry comment slipped from my lips before I could catch myself. Maybe the adrenaline was getting to my head.

Krul lifted a brow, an almost wry smile on her face. " _Of course you would know about his personality, too._ "

A grimace appeared on my face in response. " _I hope I'll never meet him and that he gets punished for what he did to the Hyakuya orphans and for hurting Mika._ "

" _Then we have one other thing in common._ " A mutual dislike for Ferid Bathory. But what was the first thing? Being the Demon Army's enemy?

When I sat down on my bed after returning to my room, my whole body quivered. As all the fear and tension I had felt during Krul's interrogation left me, it was replaced with exhaustion. The vampire queen had just heard about my being reincarnated and knowledge about this world, and I had made it out alive although I wasn't sure if she quite believed my explanation in the end.

Also, I had finally gotten her promise that she wouldn't allow harm to come to my friends.

I didn't know what would await me in the next weeks.

* * *

To my relief, the days went by the same like they had before my revelation, though Krul wasn't very pleased when I informed her who exactly she had agreed to protect – Hiiragi Shinya and his friends – even after knowing that he had been adopted and wasn't a fan of the Hiiragi family either. But she hadn't been completely averse to it for some reason.

There was one curious exception to the routine of my days, though. One day Krul sent a female vampire servant to me because she was apparently displeased with my disorderly appearance. Was it my non-present haircut and split ends, my overgrown brows, or maybe my slightly hairy legs that showed a little in the dress? I had given up on being self-conscious about any of it... until now. It wasn't like there were scissors or razors lying around here that I could use; I had a nail file and that was it.

Possibly out of safety reasons. Maybe the vampires thought the human would be dumb enough to accidentally kill herself if she had something sharp? And they couldn't have that because Krul still wasn't done with me? In any case, had no idea what the answer was as to why the vampiric hairdresser was here.

She cut my slightly wavy hair in form and trimmed it to my hips, but also cut me a fringe again – I wanted it down to shoulder length because I was thoroughly done with long hair, but Krul apparently wanted it like this and her word was law. My mother Irina would have approved because she had loved to style my hair as a mother-daughter-bonding kind of thing whenever she had time, similar to the dressing up in nice dresses, and had forbidden me to cut it too short. _I,_ however, was annoyed but grateful that it was getting cut at all.

To my horror, the vampire then proceeded to take care of everything else that needed to be taken care of once the haircut was done. The experience was mortifying.

Was this some petty revenge? Was I just a pet in the queen's eyes that was in need of a little grooming? Or, had Krul decided that it was time to give me a long overdue "spa treatment" because she had to talk to me frequently and couldn't stand my unkept appearance? Were vampires that vain? I thought they didn't care about humans? Why did she bother?

Krul definitely took care of herself, though. There was never a hair out of place with her, her clothes and boots were neatly kept, and even her nails were manicured and painted in the same hue as her hair.

If I thought about it, _all_ the vampires looked immaculate all the time, even the servants and guards. So they _did_ take good care of their appearance for some reason, even if it was just vanity or because they had too much time on their hands.

Was there more behind this, or was I reading too much into this?

Well, at least my corpse wouldn't look like a total mess now. Maybe this was a small mercy.

* * *

After playing the piano and as soon as Krul had left us to our own devices, as if the talk about my former life with her had never happened, I would converse with Mika again and teach him the violin. Slowly, tentatively, he began to open up to me day after day while I told him about me, my past, my experiences in that facility – though I skimmed over too unsavoury parts – and answered his questions about the experiments on children, the Demon Army and the state of the world.

It delighted me that he seemed to be in a slightly better mood these days though he also became increasingly troubled the more he heard about the human experiments. Was this what Krul was aiming at by allowing me to talk about my past in that facility with Mika? To make him despise humans? To make him want to rescue Yū from them?

While I had retold some more stories about the shenanigans my friends and I had gotten into, Mika had in return told me a bit about his life with Yū and the other orphans, but still hadn't mentioned their names yet or said how they died, or how Yū had escaped. Only that their deaths were his fault.

It was understandable that he still blamed himself for their deaths even though he had been played by Ferid Bathory, because he was the one to suggest they should escape. I thanked every deity there was that I still hadn't seen that particular vampire yet. Everything was rather peaceful and I hoped that it would remain that way... until my final day.

* * *

Often I had nightmares that I was back in the facility, or about the day of the apocalypse and my friends dying in front of my eyes, the encounter with that Horseman also came up a few times, as well as the being choked and threatened by two vampires, and woke up drenched in sweat.

Sometimes I even had unbidden flashbacks while I was awake and had to do breathing exercises to smother the panic attacks or whatever they were. But talking to Mika somehow helped me to get my thoughts out of darker places, too. It was like a double-therapy.

"I still don't understand why he left his friend and went to the undying lands," Mika appeared disappointed after he had heard the last part of the Lord of the Rings story.

"Yeah, I also didn't like that at first. It seems somewhat lonely, doesn't it?"

"After everything they have been through together he abandons him…" Mika trailed off. Uh-oh had that somehow hit a sore nerve? Maybe I shouldn't have told him the film ending.

I had thought that Mika had been okay with letting Yū escape but maybe he had actually had some regrets? Or, it was the complete opposite and Mika was afraid that he would leave his friend behind one day because he was a vampire now and wouldn't die?

...Maybe I was just interpreting too much into his reaction and he just disliked that part of the story.

"I don't think that he really abandons him. Even if their ways have parted they still remain friends. In the end both are happy with the lives they live, isn't that the most important thing?" I tried to cheer him up again.

Mika looked at the ground and was clearly conflicted. I stood up from my seat and gently ruffled the boy's hair, so that he could move away if he didn't like the physical contact. To my astonishment he didn't.

"Mika, you silly boy, why are you getting so worked up? It's just a story. You're not comparing it to your own situation are you?"

"...I'm not." The blonde didn't meet my eyes.

"Uh-huh," I was unconvinced. "Just so you know, this is my opinion on the matter: you and your friend are both too stubborn to ever abandon each other from what I've observed of you and heard from you about them so far."

He looked up at me with saddened eyes. "You really think so?" he inquired, and I smiled at him in reassurance.

"I'm one-hundred-percent sure." My sparse knowledge about the anime confirmed as much.

"Well, if _you_ say so, Vivian-san, maybe I'll believe you..." Mika trailed off, "You kind of remind me of Yū-chan sometimes." Huh, I reminded him of Yū? How did we even resemble each other? And wow... he had said Yū's name in my presence for the first time. After chatting _daily_ with me for over a month. Mika was very careful and didn't trust easily. Even now I wasn't sure how much he actually trusted me.

"Didn't you say that your friend was kind of a grumpy idiot and hot head? Am I really that bad?" I asked, confused.

"Ah yes, but I didn't mean that. I meant that you both are passionate and straightforward. Yū-chan always spoke his mind, even if it got him into trouble," Mikaela explained. Oh, wow, in those aspects we really resembled each other a little. Sometimes my mouth was just faster than my brain and other times I just didn't care anymore.

"Whew, for a moment there I thought I was oblivious to how other people see me. I'm glad that you don't see me as an idiot or hot head," I stated in relief.

"Now that I think about it… Coming to Sanguinem by your own free will _is_ a rather idiotic move. Most people want to get _away_ from here." I could see the corners of his mouth twitching.

"You're just teasing me again now," I told him with a grin and ruffled through his hair again. "But I like this feisty side to you, Mika. Do you want play a song together with me again?"

"Sure."

To my delight, even though Mika was still a beginner, he was very good for one, and he learned fast. The boy had soaked the few pieces I had taught him right up.

We played a few simple but sweet and cheerful songs – he on the violin and I on the piano – until it was time to stop. Though I wished that this could continue forever. I hadn't had so much fun in years as with my daily outings with Mika. I was glad that the boy seemed not as depressed and sullen, but slightly better now as well than when I had first met him. That was all I wanted.

"I'll escort you to your room again, Vivian-san," the blonde held the door open for me.

"Always so considerate... I bet you'd make a good husband," I complimented him and patted him on the shoulder with a smile.

"Vivian-san," Mika protested, slightly and embarrassed. Ah, I got why Irina did this to me, too. It was fun.

For some reason there were no guards around anymore, and we walked back in comfortable silence.

Until hot pain erupted in my chest as we descended the stairs. Again?! It was already the third time today that it happened! I had to grip the handrail with one hand and covered my mouth with the other one as coughs left me wheezing.

"Vivian-san!" Mika exclaimed and rushed to my side, trying to support me as my legs gave out under me. Stars danced across my vision.

"It's… okay… This happens… all the time," I wheezed in between coughs. I tried not to spill any blood on anything else than my hand but was unsuccessful this time and stained my white dress.

That was when I noticed that Mika's breathing got heavier, too, but for an entirely different reason. He had to be having problems controlling his thirst for blood with me spilling it right under his nose. Even if it was comparatively bad blood from a sick person.

Once the coughs had subsided, I tried to move away because Mika was still kneeling next to me and fighting with himself. I didn't want to make him feel pain because of his thirst for blood. It would probably be more reasonable to fear about my own life, but my concern for Mika overshadowed it.

"You can go back to your room, Mika. You don't have to burden yourself by staying here. Sorry about this."

He was surprised. "You don't need to apologize, Vivian-san. It's not your fault that you're sick. You... you've noticed that I'm… that I'm…" I nodded at the question he didn't finish.

"That you're a vampire? It doesn't matter to me. You're a really kind boy and I like you just the way you are." His eyes widened at my sincerity and acceptance, but then his expression changed to anger, and he quickly moved to stand protectively in front of me.

"Aha~, how cute. It seems that you've found a new _human_ friend, Mika-kun~," commented a man with silver hair and an eccentric outfit who could be none other than Ferid Bathory. He had somehow appeared silently at the stairs. A shiver went down my spine as his crimson eyes fixated on me. I tried not to let my fear show on my face, but I doubted that I was successful.

He was an impossibly beautiful man in person, almost ethereal in appearance, but even scarier in reality than in the anime because I perfectly knew that he was able to kill a group of children for fun and some unknown plans. And I was facing this dangerous man now without any way to protect myself. Not even my knowledge or wit could help me here.

"What do you want?" Mika demanded and balled his fists.

Ferid placed one hand on his hip, unperturbed by Mika's seething gaze.

"Now, now, Mika-kun, be nice~. I was only enjoying the delightful duet you two played, and showed myself because I thought that your _human_ friend needed some help to get back to her room. Isn't that right, little _Vivian_?" Crap, had he listened to our chats before as well then? That wasn't good at all.

Why was he even here in the first place? This was _Krul's_ palace. Had I somehow attracted his attention? Did he get wind of the state in which I had arrived here? More fear welled up in my heart at the thought.

"I can get to my room by myself. But thank you for the kind offer, Sir," I declined politely while I tried to stand up. Emphasis on tried. Why couldn't I muster the strength to stand up when I needed to get away from here?!

"Oh my, how rude of me~. I didn't introduce myself, did I? I'm Seventh Progenitor Ferid Bathory," suddenly he was right in front of me – he had moved around Mika without me even seeing it. It was a miracle that I didn't get a heart attack right then and there.

"-and I insist, my little _lamb_." Ferid loomed over me, much too close for comfort.

At this distance his beauty was even more unreal. Too perfect. There was not one blemish or dark shadow on his porcelain face. I was scared out of my mind when he suddenly bent down to me and exposed his perfect white teeth and sharp fangs in a wicked smile.

Subconsciously, I seemed to somehow call for my power and wings, because my skin began to glow slightly. Ferid's smile got even wider at my reaction. Shit, he wasn't supposed to know about that! How could I stop this?!

"Get away from her!" Mika growled at Ferid. I had to do something to defuse the situation! But what could I do?

Once again, I pushed myself back up on my feet, using the banister as help. This time I succeeded, although I stood on shaky legs and didn't think I could move a step. Regrettably, my action brought me even closer to Ferid.

"I'm okay, Sir. I can go back on my own."

"Oh, I don't think so~," Ferid disagreed, and then I yelped as I was suddenly lifted into cold arms. My body grew stiff instantly in horror that Ferid held me in his arms like a bride.

Cold sweat trailed down my spine at the memory of being lifted and touched like this back in the research facility while being unable to move. It was like a flashback to that time, and I involuntarily started to pant for breath as I tried to suppress a panic attack because of the unexpected and unwelcome contact.

"You both should relax~. I'm not here to hurt Vivi-chan. I could have already done that if I wanted to. You should know how fast I am, my dear Mika-kun," he told Mikaela and me with a fanged grin.

I knew what the Seventh Progenitor said was true, but I still didn't want to let him hold me and be at his mercy like this. It was just wrong. And who did give him the right to call me by my nickname? Only the people I loved were allowed to do that!

However, I recognized the hopelessness of the situation and was somehow able to stifle the incoming panic attack, willing myself to relax with everything I could. Neither Mikaela nor I would stand a chance against Ferid, and I didn't want to put Mika in danger by risking his well-being for me. Reluctantly, I somehow let go of the feeling of summoning my wings and the slight glow of my skin subsided.

"Good girl~," Ferid praised me with a smile that reminded me of how an owner would praise his dog. I suppressed another shudder. Mika seemed as desperate as I but couldn't do anything. Ferid floated down the stairs with me and was completely unfazed by my weight.

"Look how cute she looks in my arms, Mika-kun~. Like my young little bride~!" The vampire whirled playfully around his own axis once, sending me on an unwanted merry-go-round trip. Yuck!

Mika scowled in response, which made Ferid only smile wider. Oh, Ferid was an asshole. Did he do all of this just to rile up Mika? To... pass some time?

The progenitor's icy hands were placed around my thighs and shoulder blades, supporting my back. I was pressed tightly against his cold body that was devoid of any body warmth, which was definitely intentional to make me even more uncomfortable than I already was.

Because of my close proximity to the pervert, I noticed that he smelled somehow weird but not unpleasant – was he using a perfume? Ferid also didn't have a heartbeat, or at least none that I could feel, as if the vampire was nothing but a corpse, which was extra creepy. Mikaela marched right next to him and was eyeing Ferid with eagle eyes.

How I wished I could vanish into thin air right now.

The walk back to my room seemed to last forever because the older vampire almost never glanced away from my face, and that deeply unsettling smile never left his face. He also inspected my bruised and scarred arms until I noticed his gaze and pulled down the sleeves with a glare before I could stop it, not wanting him to see the ugly wounds and scars I had received during my captivity.

If anything, my defiant attitude amused him more. Ferid appeared to be having a field day because of my distress and Mika's anger. I was sure that he had picked up on my almost-panic attack. Not even my fearful shivering could be hidden.

After an eternity, we were standing in front of my room.

Did I want to know why Ferid knew exactly where it was? No, definitely not.

Doubts that I could ever sleep without worry here ever again filled my mind. The pompous vampire set me down and came real close to my neck in the process, enough that I could feel his cold breath on my skin there.

For a moment I thought that he would bite me and I would die right then and there.

But then he moved back. In the next second Ferid held up my chin with his cold fingers, that showed off his violet painted nails. He scrutinized my face with his menacing crimson eyes and almost softly caressed my skin with his thumb. A shiver of disgust ran down my spine at the action.

"You have such unique features, my dear~. Are you a foreigner, Vivi-chan?"

Why did Ferid want to know that? Unfortunately I couldn't evade an answer. "No, Lord Bathory, I'm not a foreigner, but my mother was from Russia." I hoped that I had addressed him right.

"Oh my! Almost the same as Mika-chan! How interesting~! Say, do you have any siblings, my dear? Any little brothers? You seem to be handling a younger boy so well~."

I forced myself to meet his intimidating bloodred gaze once more, being slightly confused by his questions. "No, I'm an only child, Lord Bathory. Like both of my parents." In both of my lives I've never had any siblings though I think I would have liked some. Being an only child could be quite lonely at times.

"Aha, is that so~? Then it is really unfortunate that you will die soon and your line will end with you…" he trailed off. What was he getting at? Did he want to see how I felt about my upcoming death? How did he even know about it?

"I guess so," was my casual answer as I tried to keep my true thoughts off of my face.

He smirked at my feigned nonchalant attitude. "Maybe I should make you my plaything~! It would be such a waste to let a cute little livestock like you die. How does immortality sound to you?"

The blood in my face was draining away in response to his question.

Was Ferid offering me to turn me into a vampire? Why did he do that in the first place? Was that why he had approached me today? This was bad. Really bad.

And here I thought I had remained inconspicuous, but it seemed that you couldn't escape from Ferid Bathory. However, Mika came to my aid once again.

"I don't think Krul would be pleased if you do something to the person that is under her protection." I wanted to hug the boy.

"Ah, that's right, my dear Mika-kun. How forgetful I am~. I've already made her mad not too long ago." Ferid finally let go of my chin and instead took one of my bloodstained hands and brought it close to his mouth to... give me a hand kiss?

I was frozen in place like a deer in the headlights. Why did the vampire have to be so touchy?! His presence alone was bad enough!

His cold breath tickled the skin of my hand, and I could swear that I felt something wet for a moment before the odd sensation disappeared. Wait… had he just… had Ferid just… _licked_ my hand? ...No, I must have been mistaken, right? There was no reason for Ferid to lick my hand.

' _Please let it be my imagination...!'_ I begged every kami there was.

"You should consider my offer, Vivi-chan~. You don't look so well," the silver-haired vampire looked into my eyes one last time before he let go of my hand. Then he turned around with a sly smile on his lips, leaving Mika and me standing in the corridor while he strutted away like a model on a catwalk.

It was somehow hypnotizing to watch, and I would have laughed at the absurdity if I wasn't as stressed as I was now. As the tense atmosphere finally subsided and my heart calmed down, I let out a shaky breath. Exhausted both in body and mind, I opened my door and turned to Mika.

"Thank you for protecting me, Mika. I really appreciate it. That was a rather scary experience." Unlike with Krul, I didn't hold anything against Ferid. I had been at his complete mercy, and he could have killed me at any time.

"I will tell Krul about it. You should go inside and clean yourself up before the scent of your blood attracts another vampire," Mikaela advised me, concerned.

"Alright, I will do that. Thank you again, Mika. You're a really brave and considerate boy." He smiled lightly at the praise. How cute.

While I ventured straight to the bathroom, Mika closed the door behind me, most likely reporting to Krul right away. After I had washed the dried blood off of my hand, I decided to take a bath. Somehow I felt gross after being held and touched by Ferid, knowing that he had killed children with those hands – Mika's _family_.

Right now I needed some relaxation after the stressful encounter and my tiring coughing fit.

* * *

 **A/N:** Feel free to leave a review and tell me what you think about this chapter and/or Vivian's first encounter with Ferid~. It was definitely a lot of fun to write xD I hope you had as much fun reading it as I had with writing it!


	9. Deal With The Devil

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Owari no Seraph, its plot or characters, or any other mentioned books, songs, or series. They belong to their respective owners. I only own my OCs and the plot that deviates from canon or doesn't exist in canon. This is a non-profit fan fiction just for fun.

 ** _To my guest reviewer from March 14_ :** I try to update at least twice a month, but I can't say on which date exactly. That depends on whether I have the time for it and whether I'm satisfied with how the chapter turned out – if I think that it needs some more editing, it will naturally take me a little longer to update.

 ** _To my guest reviewer from March 17:_** Aww, thank you :) ! It makes me happy to hear that!

 **A/N:** A big thank you to everyone who favourited, followed, reviewed and read _Between Two Worlds_ to this point. I get excited whenever I see a new notification on my phone :D I hope you will enjoy this chapter, too!

* * *

 **Chapter 9** **–** **Deal With The Devil**

 **Japanese Imperial Demon Army Headquarters, Shibuya**

Shinya placed down the last paperwork on the stack of papers that rested on his massive cherry wood desk, and stood up from his chair after he had turned off the lamp on the desk. He gave his arms and legs a good stretch, and did the same with his back to get rid of the soreness in his muscles, that came from sitting for too long.

Shinya sauntered over the polished chequered floor to the floor-length window and peered out into the night.

The street lights were on in Shibuya, but from his office high up the young man could see past the illuminated streets and the erected wall and into the direction of Shinjuku.

Where Vivian's flat was there was only darkness now. Shinya couldn't stop thinking about the findings he had made there.

The last time he had checked the place the supplies he had stored there for his friend as well as Shinya's message had been removed. Strange trails had been left in the dust, and there had been new footprints leading up to Vivian's room – made by the familiar military boots of the Demon Army but also by an unknown, smaller pair.

They didn't originate from any of his friends nor were they from Shinya. He was the only one who entered Vivian's room once in a while but knew the tracks weren't from him either.

That brought up the question whose they actually were.

Shinya suspected very strongly that the smaller, non-military pair might belong to his missing friend – it was too improbable that a stranger would go all the way up there to search for supplies. But why had Vivian not waited for him in the flat then, like he had suggested in his message? And why were those other footprints there? Had Vivian been in the company of soldiers of the Imperial Demon Army?

If so, why? Vivian and her family didn't have a connection to the Order of the Imperial Demon under the Hiiragi family – apart from Shinya himself – nor were they associated with the Order of the Imperial Moon under the Ichinose family. They were normal civilians.

Apart from those strange trails in the dust, there had been no signs of any struggles, so it was possible that Vivian had been there with the soldiers willingly, or, the footprints had been made on separate occasions.

But what reason would the soldiers of his adopted family's army have to search the former home of Shinya's friend? Had Shinya's connection to Vivian been discovered? Neither his adoptive brothers nor Hiiragi Tenri, his adoptive father, had ever mentioned Vivi-chan.

Surely, if it was Kureto, he wouldn't have hesitated to try and hurt Shinya for his past disobedience by using his friend.

Why were the supplies and his message gone and any evidence that pointed to Shinya and his friends frequenting the place erased? The JIDA soldiers didn't have any reason to do so. Did Vivi-chan get rid of the evidence before the soldiers arrived?

It would make sense if she was trying to keep Shinya's visits to the place a secret from the soldiers. And the reason behind her actions would be... that Vivian was on the run from the Demon Army and was trying to hide any recent contact between them so Shinya wouldn't get in trouble.

There was something strange going on that his friend was involved in, and Shinya had to tread very carefully in order to find out what it was.

At least he had the confirmation now that his friend was still alive and could hope that he would find her again sooner or later. For the past four years he had been losing sleep over his worries for his friend, and the uncertainty about Vivian's condition was unbearable for Shinya, though he hid it well.

"Where are you now, Vivi-chan...?" he asked in the silence of his darkened office room as he gazed out of his window into the darkness, but he received no answer.

After he had brooded in the dark for long enough, Shinya pulled out his precious collection that he carried around on his person at all times. It was a collection of embarrassing photos of _all_ of his friends, but most of them either depicted Guren or Vivi-chan. They always lightened Shinya's mood whenever he felt down.

* * *

 **Krul's Palace, Sanguinem, March 2017**

During the night I barely slept, because the nightmares of the facility and the day of the apocalypse returned, and coughed up a large amount of blood two more times, which made me even more tired and weak than the day before.

I was in constant pain and felt like I was about to keel over at any moment. Even the painkillers I had received from the vampires didn't help much anymore.

Using the last of my strength, I was somehow able to do my morning routine and sit down on the sofa to eat breakfast, but even those actions left me wheezing and drained. My condition was deteriorating fast. Soon I would be unable to walk.

My friends, my _family_... Shinya, Makoto, Shūsaku. Once more I would never see my family again. In the solitude of my room I let myself despair over my approaching death.

* * *

Sometime during breakfast – I could hardly eat anything – Krul entered the room with Mikaela following her like a cute little duckling although they were both about the same height.

Mika returned my usual greeting, but Krul came straight to the point as she sat down with him on the sofa opposite to mine. Thankfully, she hadn't hurt me again after that one time in her throne room, and the small bruise had healed.

"According to Mikaela Ferid Bathory has taken an interest in you and has offered to turn you into one of us. What was your answer?" Hadn't Mika already told her?

"I said nothing. Mikaela intervened."

"Yes, but what would your answer have been?" Krul asked with interest lacing her voice.

"Obviously, it would have been 'No'. I don't want to be anybody's plaything." Especially not Ferid's and not for all eternity. Nor did I want to be a vampire.

"Even if it would save your life?" she inquired. What was it with the weird questions today? I was already feeling dizzy without them.

"…I've already made my peace with my approaching death," I lied and averted my gaze.

"So, you don't want to find those two human boys?" Krul had informed me a while ago that Makoto and Shūsaku were not registered at any of the vampire cities here.

"You will have to go to the surface and search for them yourself to find them. And didn't you want to fight against the Japanese Imperial Demon Army and take revenge for what they did to mankind, yourself, and other human children? What about these other friends of yours? Are you really giving up this quick?" she inquired.

"I thought that you had more grit when you stood in front of me like an avenging angel the first time I saw you, or when you dared to force that promise out of _me_." Krul was looking at me with expectation gleaming in her eyes. What did she want from me?

"Of course I want to find them and fight against the Demon Army! And stay with Mika…" My gaze fell on the miserable looking boy. Why didn't he meet my eyes? After my small exclamation I had to cough and take some more calming breaths against the pain in my body before I continued in a weak tone.

"…but there is no medicine for my condition, is there?"

"Oh, that's where you are wrong," Krul told me with a smirk that exposed her fangs.

So there _was_ medicine? Hope welled up in me. Perhaps I didn't have to die so soon. Maybe Krul thought it was better to let me live, so I could tell her about my knowledge at the right time, without taking the risk of changing something? And that's why she had finally decided to give me a cure...

"What should I do for you to get it then?" I asked her, guessing that she wanted something from me in return.

"You only have to pledge your loyalty to me and make a decision…"

Pledge my loyalty? I could do that. The vampires were better hosts than the scientists from the JIDA – even though two of them had strangled me – and that had to say something.

"What decision?"

"You have to decide if you want to die or become a vampire and survive, of course," Krul stated dryly, letting the shred of hope I had had in me die. That was the reason why Mikaela looked miserable. Krul must have already informed him of what she was planning to offer me. Never would I have thought that she would offer to turn me. I didn't want it either.

"Are these my only options?" My clear dislike had to be apparent on my face.

"It would be a waste to let someone with your knowledge and... potential die. Also, Ferid Bathory is interested in you as well or he wouldn't have offered to turn you. But I will never let him have you, that's why you either have to die now, or, get turned into a vampire by _me_ before he can interfere and snatch you away. If Ferid turns you, you will become part of his faction according to vampire law, and even I can't separate a progeny from their sire."

Krul's explanation baffled me. I never imagined I would become a person of interest to her or any other vampire for that matter. Maybe I had been naïve to think that either of them would let someone with unusual abilities slip through their grasp, even if I was a failed seraph. Or after I had told Krul about the things I knew. I had already accepted that I would die again, even if I didn't want to.

However, with that little spark of hope, that there _was_ a way to survive… _NO!_ I couldn't think like this; becoming a vampire wasn't an option. I wouldn't be myself anymore and would have to survive on the blood of humans, the children I had seen on the way to the palace.

"Are you really willing to give up your life when you still have goals to achieve? I would allow you to search for your two humans. You will be able to stay with Mikaela, too, if you accept my offer," Krul made a dramatic pause to let her words sink in. "Will you really leave Mikaela all alone again? Will you let the future play itself out?"

Oh, Krul was sly, very sly. She could play me like a fiddle. The vampire queen would make the perfect demon. Each and every one of the arguments she had presented were weighing heavily on my mind. She knew all of my desires and weaknesses.

This time, _Krul_ was the one who manipulated me with my wishes; I could see the irony in it.

"Don't listen to her Vivian! You will regret it! She-" Mikaela interrupted my thoughts.

"-Mikaela, I told you to stay silent. This is _Vivian's_ decision," Krul chided him. So she actually knew my name, huh? She had just called me human before.

It was understandable that Mika didn't want me to accept Krul's offer because he had been turned into a vampire against his will. He would have rather died than become a vampire… He would have died _willingly_.

Could I do the same, knowing that the World of Death and possibly a new life awaited me? A new life where no one from this world would exist. I would lose everyone again. Just like before.

Also, there was no guarantee that I would remember my past life again. Was I ready to let go of Mako-chan, Shū, Shinya, the memories of all of my other friends, my family, or Mika and this world as a whole to start with nothing again? I was torn internally.

Becoming a vampire was one of the shittiest things that could happen to me, but I didn't want to die and possibly forget anyone or anything either.

"…Will you please give me time to think about your offer?" I implored Krul.

"I won't. Time is of the essence. At the speed your body is deteriorating, you will die sooner rather than later. You have a few days left at the most. Surely, you have noticed that?" the vampire queen gave me nothing but the hard, cold truth.

Silence was my answer.

"I want your decision right now – before Ferid Bathory can interfere. You already look like you could die any minute." She demonstratively eyed the barely eaten food. Krul was right; I felt that death was approaching me.

Desperate, I placed my head into my hands as I considered her words and massaged my temples. A life changing decision had to be made by me right _now_? All kinds of thoughts swirled around in my head. I had been confronted with such a decision several times already in this life.

First, when I tried to escape from the laboratory. I had jumped from the building because I believed that I could survive it and would have rather died trying than become the JIDA's guinea pig again. Then I had decided to go to the vampires to find Makoto and Shū, get protection for them and Shinya, and get my revenge although it had been a possibility that the vampires would kill me on sight. And right now…

Even if I would be different than I was now, I would have the opportunity to help and be there for Mika, search for Makoto and Shū, see Shinya again, check for Kenta, Emi, or my parents, and change things if I became a vampire.

It was a certainty that I would hate myself for this, and that my friends would probably hate me, too, but it was the only way to survive. I had sworn to myself that I would endure and _survive_. That was what I would do. Holy moly, my decisions were incredibly fucked up.

"Mika," I bent over the table to take his hands into mine. They were even colder than mine, but I didn't mind. "Please... don't hate me for the decision I'm going to make. I've told you that I'm a selfish person. In my captivity I've fought for and survived for years because I never gave up the hope that I would one day see my family and friends again if I just held on for long enough."

"Maybe you will see my choice differently than me; I don't blame you for that. But I still want to see them again, more than anything, and I have things I want to do, so I will grasp this opportunity. It's shameful but… I don't want to die. I don't want to give life or my friends up – I hate that thought even more than the idea of becoming a vampire," I declared with a small, pained smile.

"Vivian-san... you don't know what you are agreeing to..." was his reply. I had absolutely no doubt about the accuracy of his statement. Mika and I looked at each other for a few moments. He appeared as forlorn and torn as I felt.

Then I let go of Mika's hands after giving them one last squeeze, and my tired gaze fell on Krul, who smiled victoriously at me.

"I accept your offer," I said, feeling the gravity of my words. "What are the conditions?"

How could I even want to become a bloodsucking monster? I really must have gone crazy during my time in captivity to even consider agreeing to become a vampire. On the other hand, you didn't need to be a vampire to be a monster as the people who had held me captive had proven. Humans could be monsters, too. And there were vampires like Mika who weren't monsters.

Regret about this decision would certainly arise sooner or later, but it was the only way to get a chance to see Shinya again and to search for Shū and Makoto. Also, Mika was here, right in front of me, and I didn't want to leave him alone either. These were the most important things for me at the moment.

A feeling of desperation had me firm in its grasp; it was the same feeling I had experienced when I jumped from that building. It wasn't an easy decision to make, but the only one that could give me what I wanted.

I would grasp this spider's thread and live.

"I knew that you wouldn't give up so fast, Vivian," Krul praised me. "You will, of course, be loyal to me, your sire. You will attend swordplay lessons, and I require you to join the City Guard before I'll allow you to go up to the surface world. If you still have your wings and ability when you are a vampire, I want you to train with them in secret, too."

"Furthermore, I want to publicly announce you as my progeny and part of my faction. Moreover, you _will_ drink human blood without protest as my official progeny. I will not give my blood to two incomplete vampires constantly, and I won't allow you to starve yourself either."

Krul glanced at Mika while she said the last part. It seemed as if there would be no grace period for me. My head landed in my hands while some tears of sorrow and desperation left my eyes.

Drinking human blood... My face scrunched up in disgust and doubt at the mental image. Would my friends ever forgive me for becoming a vampire? Shinya killed vampires for a living for crying out loud! And what about Mika? What would he think of me? Could I really go through with this?

The blood of innocent people would become my life force. That would be the price for having another chance at life.

Did it have to be human blood, though? Perhaps the blood from animals would be sufficient? Like in that teen drama film Shinya let me suffer through where the vampires drank animal blood. It wouldn't be that different from eating meat, right?

Even some humans drank animal blood. I had read somewhere that some people that lived in the northern hemisphere of Siberia had to drink the blood of the reindeer they were taking care of to stay healthy in the winter months when they didn't have access to vegetables or fruits.

' _Yeah, just sugar-coat blood-drinking, Vivian. You've certainly lost it now,_ ' I reprimanded myself.

A heavy, resigned sigh left my lips as I wiped my tears away. "…Alright, I c-can accept that, Queen Krul. But I have two requests if it's not too much to ask." Mika looked almost physically pained by my words.

Krul sighed in exasperation. "As always, you are driving a hard bargain, human, despite the position you are in. Humans are so full of desires and so very selfish... Tell me what you want, maybe I will grant your requests."

"I would like to take a picture together with you and Mikaela so I can place it in here," I removed my locket and opened it. She took it to look at the pictures.

Krul was puzzled. "Why do you want to take a picture with us? Don't you put pictures of people who are of importance to you in there?"

A sad smile spread over my lips. "Exactly." I wanted their picture so I wouldn't forget my reason to live or think that I was alone if none of my friends accepted me anymore. Mika and Krul were the only ones who would put up with me. Or, at least Krul would if Mika didn't want to be around me anymore after this.

An incredulous smile spread over her lips at my bold answer. "Fine, you can have your picture after your change. What is your second request?"

"If you require me to drink human blood, I want to be trained to be able to resist it, so I will never endanger a person until I'm able to control myself. The only people I want to kill are from the JIDA after all. I never want to kill an innocent person through sucking their blood."

It felt more than weird to think about something like that, but taking precautions was better than to have regrets afterwards although it disgusted me to even think about having to... _suck_ blood.

But I knew from the show – from seeing Mika – that bloodlust was real, and it would be naïve of me to think that I wouldn't be affected by it just because I had a strong will. In any vampire series their desire for blood was strong, so I wanted, needed, to be able to control it.

Krul seemed surprised by my insight. "I didn't expect that you would realize that part already, but your request is reasonable enough. Very well, I will grant your requests. Now, let us proceed."

"Right now?!" I exclaimed as my pulse jumped up to my throat and an overwhelming fear rose in me.

Krul stood up. "Of course, I just told you that time is of the essence. Why wait any longer?"

So I could say goodbye to my humanity and curse myself for ever making this decision?

Desperation and fear squeezed my heart. I didn't want to become a vampire, but it was the only way to stay alive. The only way to see Shinya and the others again and to stay with Mika. '... _What am I even doing here?'_ I questioned myself.

"Now get on the bed," Krul instructed me.

Almost mechanically, I got up and was about to follow Krul's command when a sudden wave of dizziness overcame me. My body grew unbelievably heavy, and I blacked out for a few seconds, only coming to when Mika caught me with amazing strength and reflexes before I could fall to the ground.

Worry, despair and some other emotion I couldn't identify were etched onto his face as he helped me to the bed. My breathing was getting laboured again, and I suddenly felt incredibly tired. Pain... I was in a lot of pain.

"See, your condition is getting worse every second," Krul repeated as I laid down on my bed and turned my head to Mikaela with my last strength, peering into his beautiful sky-blue eyes. A pang of guilt seared through me at the boy's downcast look.

"You don't have to stay, Mika. I'll still like you… even if you hate me after this. I'm sorry…" I told him while tears rolled down my cheeks once again because my emotions overwhelmed me.

"I'll stay, Onee-chan. I can... understand why you are doing this even if I don't like it."

A small smile spread over my face at his words and understanding; the burden on my heart lightened a little. It had been a while since I was called that. This was the final gift I received as a human.

Then there was the metallic scent of blood. Krul sat down next to me on the bed, propped my head up onto her lap, and held out her slashed wrist to me. Dark blood, that seemed almost black, spilled from the wound. It made reality finally sink in.

Krul was really going to turn me into a vampire. A real _vampire._ That drank real blood.

Instantly, I was repulsed by the sight of the blood and more doubts popped up in my head. I would become a being that craved _this_ for all eternity. Would I even be the same person after becoming a vampire?

What if I became someone or something completely different? What if I stopped caring about the people and things that were important to me now once I was a vampire? Mika was still himself to a point but would it be the same with me? My resolution wavered as I was consumed by panic.

I have never been more torn about something.

Could I really drink _that?_ I needed some more time to _think._ There had to be another way to survive...!

"Please... can't you wait a little longer? Just a little…" I begged the vampire queen shamelessly, panic seeping into my tone. Getting turned into a vampire was irreversible...

I wanted to turn my head away, but Krul quickly grabbed my chin and shoved her wrist into my mouth, forcing it open against my will.

"Don't get afraid now, human. You have already made your decision. And I will give you the life you want so much – eternal life," Krul was adamant.

Her dank blood started to fill my mouth, and I wanted to gag at the weird and overwhelming coppery-metallic taste of it, but she had me in an iron grip. I had to swallow the blood if I didn't want to drown on it. For some time I held my breath, but soon it was in vain and the queen's cold, slick blood went down my throat.

My resistance was futile; despite her small size Krul effortlessly kept me in place and rendered my attempts at getting away useless. Not that they were very strong to begin with. I barely had the strength to lift an arm.

It felt like she made me drink at least a glass of her blood before she finally retracted her wrist. As she placed my head down onto the bed, I was utterly exhausted from my struggle and just laid there with my open hair fanning around me.

I laid there unmoving, with laboured breathing and resigned to my fate while my heart began to beat faster and faster, pounded so hard and fast that it was painful. It seemed to go on for an eternity and hurt _so_ damn much, added to the chronic pain I had been living with.

And then, right when I thought that my heart would explode, it just… _stopped_ beating altogether. Strange, I felt strange and a little better for a few moments before I was overcome by a new, even more intense pain. If I thought I was ever in pain before, it was nothing compared to _this_.

It was like the injections all over again when searing hot pain shot through every cell of my body.

 _'No, it's even worse!_ ' I cried in my head. I bit my lip so Mika wouldn't hear me scream, but the agonizing pain made it impossible to hold it in for a long time. It was as hot as if I was set on fire.

I could _feel_ Krul's blood changing me forcefully, changing my own blood, my muscles, my bones, my organs, my whole body, invading and consuming each and every cell. Cell after cell I was ripped apart while something foreign settled down inside me. Possessed me.

It felt as if I was melting, getting split up, and burned alive from within at the same time. The pain was beyond any imagination. I wanted to claw open my veins to get rid of the fire that consumed all of my being, but I couldn't move because the only thing I was able to feel was the excruciating pain.

If there was a Hell, it would surely feel like this. I was certain I had just made a deal with the Devil and that was why I was in agony like this. As Krul's cursed blood changed my body, I couldn't even concentrate on anything else to distract myself.

And then, after an immeasurable amount of time, I felt my consciousness slipping away.

* * *

Suddenly, I was standing in my mindscape again. But this time it looked a little different. One half of it was like it had been before; the ground was covered with white snow and the sky was covered by clouds.

However, the other half was the same scenery but shrouded in darkness and shadow with snow flakes swirling around in the dark. To my relief, there were no angelic figures here, I was all alone.

I stood in the middle where the two different landscapes met, or rather, _fought_ for dominance, the borders quivering and writhing around my feet. Icy, crystalline particles, snow that appeared to be made from the same material as the crystalline door from before fought and pushed against the black smoke of the dark side.

The smoke from the darkened side slithered over to me, and I could feel my outstretched wings at my back at this moment. I looked at my hands that were glowing in a silvery-white light like the rest of my body while the dark shadows coiled themselves around my body and were trying to settle into my skin but were partially being repulsed by the light.

But it grew weaker and weaker under their assault... This was the result of consuming Krul's blood, wasn't it? Her blood was even changing _this_ world.

I couldn't protect myself as the shadows forcefully overtook me and was forced to watch it happen. You couldn't fight against shadows or smoke. The shadows felt like something alive, something cold and foreign, and I began to panic when they began to poke at my heart, curled around it, squeezed it.

It felt as if I was stained by them, engulfed by something heavy. On instinct, I knew that was bad.

 _'No, not my heart! Leave my heart alone!'_ I clutched at my chest with both of my hands, as if I could keep the shadows away like this.

The light from underneath my skin was continuously dimming while the smoke seeped into me, succeeding in whatever it was trying to achieve. The landscape wasn't faring much better; the shadows began to take the upper hand and clouded the scenery in darkness.

However, I felt that a miniscule leftover of the power I had originally received from the cone-shaped crystal remained in my chest area, where my heart was, and continued to struggle against the shadows that began to settle in my heart. Who knew how long it could keep them at bay.

I was scared what would happen once the black smoke had completely taken me over.

 _'Shinya, Makoto, Shūsaku, Mika... I need to see them! I can't give in to this...!'_

With the subsiding of the light, the shadows began to affect my translucent wings as well, staining them black and foggy, starting from the base.

Further and further the black smoke stained me and my wings, until even the tips of the feathers were pitch black.

Finally, the whole darkened landscape shook as a tremor went through it. As the plane crumbled apart like burned paper and I fell, the only thing that was left was impenetrable darkness now.

* * *

 **A/N:** Soooo... this happened. What do you think about this turn of events? Feel free to leave a review :)

Thank you for reading this chapter!


	10. Blood Baptism

**********Disclaimer** : ********I don't own Owari no Seraph, its plot or characters, or any other mentioned books, songs, or series. They belong to their respective owners. I only own my OCs and the plot that deviates from canon or doesn't exist in canon. This is a non-profit fan fiction just for fun.

 ** _To my guest reviewer from March 26:_** Well, now you have the answer :D

 **A/N:** As always, thank you for reading, following, favouriting, and reviewing _Between Two Worlds_! After the last chapter you can probably guess why I put up a warning for 'a lot of blood' at the beginning xD

Anyway, Vivian wakes up as a vampire and has to deal with the consequences of her deal with Krul. Hope you enjoy this chapter!

* * *

 **Chapter 10** **– Blood Baptism**

Thirst. Overwhelming thirst was the first sensation I felt when I awoke. On reflex, I brought my hand up to my aching, dry throat in confusion.

 _'What...? Where…? What happened?'_ I asked myself, my memory remaining unclear for a few moments.

Slowly, I cracked open my eyes and furrowed my brows in uneasiness. A sore throat didn't even come close to the level of discomfort, outright _pain_ I was feeling – I was thirsty beyond imagination and it _hurt_ like Hell. It seemed to radiate throughout my whole body.

What the heck was going on? Searching for a clue, I turned my head to the side to take a look at my surroundings. The motion on the blanket irritated my ear and skin, that were somehow very sensitive, and the rustling of the fabric was incredibly loud to my ears.

Everything came back a second later.

This was my guest room in the vampire queen's palace, and I had agreed to let Krul turn me into a vampire. This intense, burning thirst I felt was there because I was... a vampire.

For a moment I was furious at Krul for doing this to me, but then my anger shifted to myself. I was the one who had agreed to the horrendous deal, and the circumstances that had led me to this decision were the fault of abominations of humankind like and from the Japanese Imperial Demon Army.

Because of beasts like them – whoever was responsible for the apocalypse – my friends and parents were dead. Because of them innocent children had been experimented on and had been killed. Because of them I had become sick. If it hadn't been for them, I wouldn't even have made this abysmal choice of becoming a vampire and could have lived a somewhat normal life.

Yes, everything was their fault! They deserved the blame. I had to blame someone.

 _'The Demon Army will pay,'_ I once again swore to myself and clenched my teeth. On accident I bit through my lip with… two very sharp teeth, which ripped me out of my vengeful thoughts.

It came to my notice that my blood tasted somehow different than before, less coppery-metallic and more sweet, and the bite on my lip healed in no time at all. But more disturbing than that were those two long teeth right where my upper canine teeth should be. I didn't dare to brush over them with my tongue.

Instead I shifted my focus back to the room and myself.

Despite the complete darkness, or rather, I concluded that it was dark because no lights were turned on, I was able to see _everything_ in the room like in the light but more clearly and defined than I ever had, as if a veil had been removed from my sight. What had once been hidden in darkness was now perfectly visible to my eyes.

The absence of two certain people in the room was also noted by me. Where were Krul and Mikaela? My ears told me the same as my eyes – that they weren't here or close-by – but I could hear people moving around further away from my room although their footsteps were barely more than whispers.

It shouldn't be possible to be able to hear something from such a distance, but I could do it... because I wasn't a human anymore.

As I took a deep breath – it was actually the first one since waking up – I immediately noticed another change. There was no pain in my chest and body anymore from the sickness though I was in a different kind of pain now. But the most disturbing thing was that I couldn't detect my heartbeat. My heart had stopped beating during the change.

My hand slid to my chest, then to my neck in a small surge of concern as I tried to feel for my pulse, but there was truly nothing. Just silence. The only sounds I could hear were from outside my room. My own body, however, was almost completely silent if it wasn't for the slow breathing motion of my lungs.

There was no stomach rumbling, no blood pumping through my veins, no heart beating in my chest, no nothing.

For a while I sat there with my hand on my chest and couldn't comprehend that I was still alive despite my heart not beating. It was just wrong, too silent. Once more, I took an unneeded breath again to calm my mind.

To my astonishment, it worked almost immediately; without a beating heart it was somehow harder to be anxious. Actually, my emotions seemed to have dimmed a little? They seemed to be farther away, as if they were buried underneath a thick blanket.

Was that what the smoke in my mindscape had done to me? Had it covered up my emotions? Or was that a side-effect of vampirism or an unbeating heart? It made sense, but I dearly hoped that wouldn't be the case for everything that I felt.

A formerly forgotten fact flashed suddenly through my mind. I remembered that I had read about this side effect of vampirism in the world of _Owari no Seraph_ somewhere and had forgotten all about it until now. I was such an idiot... how could I forget something like that? Too bad that it was too late for regrets now that I had been changed.

There was no cure from vampirism as far as I knew.

I took a few more deep breaths to try and calm down and not think too deeply on what this new existence meant for me. Thinking too far ahead right now wouldn't do me any good.

As I breathed, my nose I picked up an unpleasant scent in the room that was mixed with two other scents. I was astonished that I could smell something so distinctly but also uncomfortable about the scent of sweat, blood and sickness that clung to me. A bath, I needed a bath to get rid of the bad odours before my nose killed me.

My limbs were slightly oversensitive as I moved them to sit at the edge of the bed. Despite that, I felt better and much stronger than before, healthy and light as a feather.

Without waiting any longer I journeyed to the bathroom, but my feather-light body moved so swiftly that I was at the door quicker than expected... And crashed right into it, nose first.

 _'Oww...'_ I felt a little pain for a second as I bounced off the door and fell to the ground, right onto my behind. However, by the time I checked my nose to find out whether it was broken I didn't feel pain anymore. My rear was fine a second later, too. Damn vampire speed, though.

When I stood up this time, I made sure to be more careful and entered the bathroom to let in a bath to clean myself. Or, that was what I was planning to do. Instead of just opening the door, I clutched the handle hard enough to bend the golden metal out of shape.

I stared for a moment. It impressed and disturbed me how easy it was to bend metal merely with my hand. Afterwards, I even ripped up my clothes on accident when I attempted to take them off. As if they were paper.

...I just knew that this existence was going to suck. Figuratively and literally.

The water wasn't warm this time, but lukewarm – the same temperature as my body, whatever that was – because everything else felt too unpleasant on my incredibly sensible skin and heightened sense of touch. Despite being able to feel the temperature of the water, I felt neither really hot nor cold when I climbed into the bathtub.

The texture of the water wasn't very pleasant on my skin, but there was no way I would leave this room without taking a bath; if I could smell myself, then so could others. This time I used just a small drop of the bathing oils, but I forewent shampoo and conditioner as everything was too strongly scented for my enhanced olfactory sense. Just one whiff from the bottle felt like walking through the perfume department.

While I was carefully washing myself with a soft flannel, I hoped that the hypersensitivity would stop soon. The mere thought of leaving this dark room and entering the dimly lit corridor, that was also frequented by servants which meant more smells and noises as well, distressed me.

It was strange to have such sharp senses compared to before and so much to take in at once. It was as if I was on constant alert or on an adrenaline high, just without the blood rush or a heartbeat.

 _Blood..._ Merely the thought of it intensified the strong thirst and the pain I felt because of my craving for it, that I had somehow managed to push to the back of my mind for some time. It was a proof that I was in fact a vampire now, a living undead and creature of the night.

There was no return from this... I would never be a human again, never have a normal life again. I couldn't escape that mind carousel.

For some time I thought over my visit to my mindscape. Had I lost the wings and the ability to create a doorway to the World of Death for good? Had Krul's blood, the curse of vampirism, taken me over now completely? Had the mindscape been destroyed and sunken into darkness because the human Vivian had died and had been replaced by a being that would live in the darkness from now on?

None of these were thoughts I liked to dwell on. It was probably time to get out of my bath.

After emerging from the water, I wrapped fresh towels around my head and body although the sensation on my skin was rather unpleasant because I could feel every fibre of the fabric.

With gentle movements I dried myself and put on the clothes I had retrieved from my room as careful as I could so I wouldn't damage them. The first batch of clothes still fell victim to my new strength though, so I had to fetch another one.

Then I dried my hair further with the towel and carefully brushed it. I contemplated brushing my teeth, too, but recoiled at the smell of the scented toothpaste.

"Gah," I let go of the tube in disgust and noticed my reflection in the mirror.

My sharper gaze showed that I was still pale like a ghost from the years I had been imprisoned, but I looked healthier now, how I would have appeared if I hadn't been deathly sick. There were no more slightly sunken cheeks or dark shadows under my eyes from weight loss, illness and nightmares; my reflection was spotless now.

The rest of my body appeared to be in prime condition as well. Somehow I wasn't as thin as when I was sick just a short time ago anymore, but had a more healthy weight and shape again. The vampirism must have somehow negated the effects the foreign seraph cells had had on my body, healing it to its former healthy state. That discovery baffled me.

In addition, there were no colourful bruises and veins on my arms or anywhere else anymore either. However, the ugly scars from the injections and other medical procedures and tests that had already healed a long time ago could still be seen – I would have to live with them... who knew how long that would be.

At last, I opened my mouth in morbid curiosity to verify… yep, there were two fangs where my upper canine teeth had been. They alone made this whole situation feel more real and were undeniable proof of what I had become. As soon as I would talk or open my mouth, everyone would see what I was now. There was no denying or hiding it.

 _'Holy shit... What have I done to myself...? That's it, I'm classifying myself as completely clinically insane now!'_ I cried inside my head _._ Even if it was too late for that now.

Disturbed yet curious, I used my tongue to brush lightly over the fangs although I had already hurt my lip with them. Without a doubt, they were pointy and sharp as hell. The thought about what they were intended for sickened me. I didn't want to use them. Ever.

They clearly showed that I was no longer human but a creature that had been nothing more than fiction for me until a few years ago. A _vampire_. I couldn't repeat it often enough. It would take some time to get used to them – to everything. Everything had happened so fast.

The rest of my teeth looked normal but slightly lighter altogether, like the fangs, and perhaps a tad more orderly aligned now. I washed my mouth out with water and tried to swallow it to soothe the aching thirst, but somehow I couldn't bring myself to drink the suddenly putrid tasting liquid and spit it out.

Not even when the intense burnung in my dry throat, that I had been ignoring as well as possible, got worse with every passing second. The thirst was powerful enough to make my whole body tremble in _want_ for something and my… fangs ache. Swallowing my own saliva didn't make it better but rather worse.

It was no mystery what this feeling was, because my mind and body craved for one thing and one thing only – _blood_. This ravenous want was the thirst for blood. It was an absolutely excruciating sensation and stronger than I could have ever imagined. It was no comparison to hunger or thirst as a human. I wondered if a drug addict felt like this when they needed their fix.

My mind was clouded by the desire for blood, and I couldn't help but to think about it; my thoughts revolved around it. I clenched my teeth in anguish and revulsion at the monstrous craving.

Once more I gazed at myself in the mirror, at my dark brown eyes. At least they weren't crimson coloured yet like the eyes of the other vampires. I didn't know if they were going to turn red in time or if it was going to happen after consuming blood. Mika's eyes were still blue, but he drank Krul's blood as far as I knew.

A small mercy was that my eyes were so dark that they almost appeared black; like this I couldn't see if my pupils were still round, or if they were slim and slit like a cat's now, inhuman.

I wondered if my ears were still round, so despite my reluctance, I brushed my hair behind them to inspect them more closely.

They were longer and sharply pointed at the end and reminded me faintly of elf ears. ' _At least I can make my peace with the ears if I think of them like this,'_ I thought in desperate amusement, but was unable to forget the truth behind their shape.

I ceased my inspection in the mirror and dried my hair instead, which was a time-consuming, annoying task, as always. In an attempt to quicken the process, I used the hair dryer but had to give up soon because it was too loud for my sensitive hearing, and the rush of air on my skin was unpleasant as well.

Once I was finally done, I left the long tresses open so they covered my ears. In all honesty, I wasn't really comfortable with their changed appearance, and I noted that even my hair seemed to have its healthy sheen and soft texture back. Vampire blood really cured all sorts of ailments.

However, it wasn't without a price... Another surge of need for blood shot through my body as the thirst demanded to be satisfied. My hand flew to my mouth as I started to take in useless breaths in order to soothe my aching throat, regret welling up in me. What had I done to myself in order to survive...?

Images of blood flooded my mind as my body trembled in want for it, and I couldn't control it even though I knew that craving for blood was wrong. I wanted it more than anything, but at the same time I struggled against the craving because it meant giving up my humanity completely. Two sides were warring inside me, and the thirst and pain that accompanied it made it hard to even think straight.

 _Krul_. Krul would know what to do. She could help me. It was time to pay her a visit.

When I pressed the handle down and pulled at the door that lead to the corridor, I didn't just open it all of a sudden but held the whole door by its handle this time. The massive wooden door had been broken out of its frame in my frantic try to get out of here.

Utterly dumbfounded, I stared at it. It was as light as a piece of cardboard.

I had just pulled out a door by accident… holy crap. That was the second door I had ruined now since waking up.

"Heeh," someone sounded amused about my bewildered expression or the fact that I was holding up a door with my hand. I turned my head to the corridor and squinted at the bright light originating from the lanterns on the wall.

Two people were approaching me. It was... Lacus and René. Why was it those two again? Why _Lacus_ of all people? Together with Ferid he was my least favourite vampire at the moment. Couldn't it have been just René, whom I at least didn't really mind?

From where I was standing I could already smell them – their scents were different but similar in its… coldness? Lifelessness? It was rather odd to be able to smell them from so far away and so intensively as if they had been drenched in perfume; it was too much.

"It looks like we don't need the key anymore because you've wrecked the door, former human," Lacus commented, seeming slightly amused. René looked as bored as ever.

I realised that I was still holding the door, so I set it gingerly down at a wall inside my room. It had escaped my notice that the door had been closed because the resistance had been kind of weak. This handle as well was completely bent out of shape from my grip. Once more I wondered just how strong one had to be to bent a metallic handle out of shape.

As if to emphasise my thoughts, the metal handle broke off of the door, drawing the attention of the three of us when it clanked on contact with the floor.

"...So it's true that Third Progenitor Krul Tepes gave you her blood, huh?" Lacus added as he turned his gaze back to me and scrutinized my appearance from top to bottom afterwards. A nod was my affirmation to his question.

Word about it seemed to have spread rather fast. Or did Krul tell him that she turned me? My mind went back to the door I had wrecked.

"Sorry about the door...s. It happened by accident," I said sheepishly though I could care less about damaging doors at the moment. There were more pressing issues. Hopefully, I wouldn't wreck more things on accident with my newfound strength, though...

When I spoke, I felt the fangs, which was more than strange and rather disturbing. They were so long... I hoped that I wouldn't develop a lisp because of them.

" _Doors_?" Lacus repeated, peering into the room to check the other one.

All of a sudden, the door I had set down at the wall crashed down to the ground with a loud thump and made me jump and cover my ears at the unexpected and extremely loud noise. It rang inside my head for a moment and made me grimace in discomfort.

Above that, I had literally jumped a few metres back because my control over the new strength and speed my body was now capable of absolutely sucked, thus resulting in me crashing into the wall with my back this time. At least it didn't hurt that much, but it was still humiliating when I landed on all fours – this time with an audience – as I bounced off the wall.

My cheeks somehow felt funny... It didn't feel exactly like blushing because there was no heat, but the feeling was somehow similar, so I guessed that this was what blushing felt for vampires. Lacus actually let out a snort of amusement, and when I looked up I witnessed that even René 's corners of the mouth were tilted upwards ever so slightly. The weird feeling in my cheeks amplified in response.

...Did they think that my hypersensitivity and lack of control over myself were funny? This wasn't funny at all! I scowled at the two vampires as I hurriedly got back on my feet.

"Still sensitive, huh?" Lacus guessed with a small smirk.

"She just woke up, so that's expected from someone who was newly turned into a vampire," René stated matter-of-factly.

"True... I almost forgot about it. Apart from that kid who hangs around the queen like a dog, it's been over a hundred years since a human has been turned. I wonder why the queen decided to keep and change her," Lacus mused and exchanged a glance with René at his own question before their attention was back on me again.

"Or did you make some kind of deal with her again?" the purple-haired vampire voiced his surprisingly insightful suspicion.

I didn't want to answer that. A sombre, self-depreciating smile spread over my lips, and I avoided their inquiring gazes. Against my will a fang peeked out of my mouth at the action.

Unfortunately, it appeared that they weren't retractable like in TV series or films but stayed the same length permanently. It would definitely take some time to get used to the abominable things.

"...What are you here for? Did the queen call for me?" I changed the subject when the staring was getting to me, aware of the thirst even as I spoke. Speaking seemed to make it worse.

"We're supposed to retrieve you from the room, but as that isn't necessary anymore we'll just escort you to her," René explained politely.

Hmm, why the double escort though? I already knew the way. And usually either Mika, René, or another guard would fetch me. Did Krul not want me to go to her throne room alone, thinking that I would try to escape now? Or because I was still sensitive to everything? I mentally shrugged and refrained from talking too much.

René led the way and Lacus followed me, similar to how they had escorted me to Krul the first time, but this time I wasn't as nervous in their presence, which might be because of my missing heartbeat. This time I could even hear their light steps on the carpet, how they breathed sometimes, and more servants rushing around in the corridors close by.

I blinked at the irritating lights on the way that were still too bright for my sensitive eyes. Now I could easily see through the shadows of even the darkest corners and everything was more colourful and sharply defined, had more depth. It was like watching a video in high definition for the first time when you were used to the lowest quality there was.

As expected there were many different scents mixed together in the corridors, that assaulted my nose. It was almost dizzying, and all of them were similar but different. I concluded that this was what vampires smelt like.

Only one scent that was more faded smelt completely different; more vibrant, sweet, alive but with a sickly undertone and something that smelt of death. It was the same scent as in my room. Was this truly what I had smelt like as a human?

We walked in silence – I kept my pace adjusted to René's – until I felt Lacus' eyes on me again, and I peered at him out of the corner of my eyes. I decided that I shouldn't fear them anymore, as I was… one of them now… I had to make my peace with that sooner or later though I still couldn't quite believe it.

Above all, I didn't like being stared at, specifically now when I was hyperaware of my changed appearance.

"Is something wrong... Lacus?" I addressed him directly for the first time.

"I wonder what your blood would have tasted like. Too bad I couldn't try it without angering the queen. Wait, how do you know my name, former human?"

"I guess I'm pretty attentive…" I answered the second part of his question nonchalantly despite my feeling of dread at the thought of blood and thinking about its taste.

 _Blood._ I couldn't tune out the longing for it, but I did my best to ignore the pain the craving for blood was causing me. However, I couldn't help but to reach for my lower throat area, where the thirst burnt the worst. Lacus threw me a smug, knowing look that I wished I could wipe off of his face.

This time I didn't have any problems with ascending the stairs. The guards opened the door to Krul's throne room and let me in – a good choice, because I would have possibly destroyed it again.

Now I would come face to face once more with the person who had turned me into a vampire and Mika. I wondered what he thought about me now, if he would still accept me even as a vampire.

Krul was sitting on her throne, looking bored out of her mind, but she piped up once she saw me. Mikaela was standing next to her throne. She instructed René and Lacus to stand by outside the door for some reason, and they left to do so after bowing, having fulfilled their primary task.

"Ah, Vivian. You have been asleep for a long time." Krul didn't mention that she had to force me to drink her blood in the end because she didn't want to give me more time. It was already done and nothing could erase the fact that I was a vampire now.

A few more minutes as a human wouldn't have changed that outcome either. Krul wasn't the one I was really angry at... Yet, I couldn't help but feel some resentment towards her because it was her blood that had changed me.

I nodded at Krul – I had no idea how long I had slept – and then looked shyly at Mikaela. He didn't avoid my gaze, which I saw as a positive sign. Perhaps he could forgive me for becoming a vampire by my own free will.

"How do you feel?" Krul questioned me.

"Healthier." I definitely didn't feel like I could die at any minute anymore. "But everything is pretty… intense."

"Hm, I see. Normal then." Krul bent forward. "By the way, aren't you thirsty?"

Why did she have to bring it up…? The thirst intensified as I concentrated on it again, making it hardly bearable.

"It's… endurable. I want the picture first," I cawed out, making a face at the pain. I had to admit that hadn't been very convincing.

Krul sighed. "You with your silly picture. Mikaela, get the camera with the tripod."

He went through a door at the sides, leaving me alone with Krul. She promptly got up and took a closer look at me from all sides. Why did she always do that? Was she evaluating my appearance now that I didn't look like walking death anymore?

Thankfully, Mika returned quickly with the camera and tripod in his hands. I rushed to help him prepare it and smiled at him in gratitude.

"Thank you for staying and agreeing to do this, Mika."

"It's no big deal." For some reason he seemed sad.

This would probably be the last picture where I would appear remotely like a human with eyes in the same colour as Hayate. Who knew when and how they would change.

We placed the tripod with the camera on the stairs and adjusted its height, so that Krul on her throne would be in the centre of the picture. Mika was on her right side and I on her left. The two of us still wore our livestock clothing but that didn't matter to me.

I was the one who pressed the ten second timer. However, the boy's smile didn't look very convincing.

"Think about the story of Mako-chan landing face-first in the snow he had peed on," I reminded him of the funny memory I had shared with him during one of our talking sessions. It had occurred at the ski resort at Mount Shirouma when we were sleighing.

Mako-chan had gone down a slope to pee underneath a tree, and when Shū had offered Makoto his help to get back up, Makoto had refused it and had slipped, falling right into the dirty snow. Those were the days. If only I had taken a picture of it.

Fortunately, it had a small effect; a tiny, barely there smile bloomed on Mika's face. "Your friend would be ashamed if he knew that others have heard of his accident," he pointed out.

I snickered. "That's the idea." ' _I'm sorry, Mako-chan.'_

We turned back to the camera, and I smiled at the same memory in mind as the camera took the picture – without a flash. With my still sensitive senses I would be seriously blinded by it at the moment. Afterwards, I looked at the picture, satisfied with the result.

"It's perfect."

Mika and I had both smiled lightly and with closed mouths to hide the fangs, but at least the eye colours were still our own. It was kind of funny that we were both blond, though my hair was a little straighter and lighter than his. That was the only similarity though. Well, that and that Mika was a Half, too.

Sometimes I suspected that the more exotic hair and eye colours, that wouldn't have occurred in my past world, were completely normal for this parallel world. Otherwise there was no explanation for the violet sheen of Shū's hair or Krul and Lacus' hair colours in general. This world _had_ been an anime and manga series in my old world after all, even though everyone and everything was as real to me as people in my original world had been.

"As you wished, one of my servants will make a small copy of it that fits into your locket," Krul stated.

My locket… my hand went to my neck in search. It hadn't been there when I took off my clothes for the bath. Where was it?! Did I destroy it on accident during the change?

"Did you only now notice that it was taken from you?" Krul asked as she held the jewellery up. "Considering the change you have just been through, that isn't very surprising. You will get the locket back when your self-control lessons are over. Nothing will happen to it in the meantime," she assured me at my slightly panicked look.

So, this was supposed to be some kind of bribe or motivation for me to endure my future lessons? The vampire queen really planned ahead.

"Thank you," I exhaled.

"You should thank Mikaela. He was the one to suggest that we take it from you in order to keep it undamaged. A newly changed vampire can't control their strength well."

How right she was. My eyes landed on Mikaela, "Thank you so much, Mika! I don't know what I would have done if I had actually damaged it on accident."

I gave him a grateful smile and suppressed the urge to hug the boy once again – this time out of thankfulness and my own need for comfort. Since getting to know Mika I had resisted the urge countless times already, because I didn't want to make it harder for him to control his thirst for blood.

...Blood.

Crap, now I was focusing on it again.

"Now we should move on to more important matters, Vivian. You have to fulfil one of my conditions," Krul was back to business. "Mikaela, take the camera with you. I will instruct René now to bring in a human."

Mikaela and I sucked in a sharp breath at the same time in reaction to Krul's words.

"Why does Vivian have to do that now? She has just been turned into a vampire! That's hard enough already! Can't you wait a little longer and supply her with your blood for now, Krul? You're willing to do it for me, aren't you?" Mika pleaded for my sake. I couldn't thank him enough for his consideration.

"I won't supply two incomplete vampires with my blood. Are you willing to take her place, Mikaela? As long as you won't drink human blood and rely on me, I can't give Vivian mine, too."

I could read Krul's calculating gaze. She was trying to use me to make Mikaela finally drink human blood – something he would deny for years to come. My friend had told me a spoiler that Mika was going to drink human blood for the first time from Yū in the second season of the show though I didn't know the circumstances under which it had occurred. Only that Jenny, my friend, had been very excited about it.

Mika had held out for so long...

Just because I was here now, I couldn't let him take my place, didn't _want_ to let him take my place either, as much as I wanted to postpone drinking human blood or any blood for that matter. It had been my decision to become a vampire; I couldn't back out now and interfere with Mika's decision to stay away from human blood until he met Yū again.

I was sure that he didn't want to be seen as a monster by his last remaining family, Yū, who hated vampires. I didn't know how my friends would react once they saw what I had become but I would deal with that when I found them.

"No. I'll do it. It was one of your conditions for me," I stated with faked determination, feeling anything but determined. In all honesty I was terrified of what was about to happen and wanted nothing but to turn my back and run away but didn't show it in front of Mika.

I crouched down a little to be at his height. When I had stated my request, I hadn't expected that Krul would make me practice drinking human blood from the source right from the beginning.

However, I _had_ to drink blood, or I would turn into a senseless, raving demon that was crazed with the thirst for blood...

Would that really happen if a vampire never drank blood? Whatever the answer was, I didn't want to find out.

The thirst was bad enough at the moment already. Had it ever been explained in the series...? Damn, why hadn't I watched the second season or read the manga back then?! I had been about to start and binge-watch the second season on the day I died.

"Thank you for being upset and concerned on my behalf, Mika. And for trying to protect me," I told him and engulfed the boy in the tight hug I had wanted to give him ever since we met.

"Please don't watch me do it…" I whispered my request in his ear, being barely able to hide the fear and desperation that bled into my voice.

"I'm sorry that I can't help you, Vivian-san..." Mika's gaze and tone were sombre.

"It's not your responsibility." I shook my head as I let him go. The boy threw me one last miserable glance before closing the door behind him.

"You have gotten really close to him in such a short time. I wonder why that is?" Krul observed after she had ordered René to bring in a human in an unconscious state over the speaker. The mechanism was hidden on the armrest of her throne.

"Maybe it's because he reminds me of my friends, and I feel like I can relate to him," I explained though there was a lot more behind it.

"Would you be willing to protect him from humans or even other vampires if I told you to?"

Her question came out of nowhere, but I didn't need to think over it for long to formulate an answer. "Yes, of course."

Krul's gaze fell on the double doors. "Then you will need all the strength you can get."

Was this why she had insisted that I drink human blood right away? Did she want me to become Mika's protector or something like that for some reason?

René entered the room with a white bundle in his arms. He placed it on the ground a small distance away from us and left again at Krul's signal. The room was being filled with a smell and noise I hadn't noticed before. It sounded a bit like a clock and the scent... was really appetizing.

In my entire life – both lives combined – I have never smelled something so good before. I swallowed hard. My fangs seemed to throb in want for it, and it was becoming harder to breathe, because with every breath I took I inhaled that delicious scent, which further worsened the burning thirst. Yet, I somehow couldn't stop breathing the scent in.

 _'Blood... Blood... I need human blood!'_ the demand repeated endlessly in my mind. For a few moments I was completely overtaken by the desire for it.

Unintentionally, I had knelt in front of the… _child_. The bundle was a child.

My hand flew up to my mouth and nose while I was trying to keep out the intoxicating scent, that I instinctively knew to be originating from the blood that coursed through the girl's veins. She couldn't be older than thirteen. Guilt and disgust at myself welled up in me as I was overcome with an unholy craving for the girl's blood.

How could it smell so good? Why did I want the blood so much? Why couldn't I control the thirst for it? Mika had been able to do it for years! Why did I have to do this now? Why couldn't Krul have waited before she made me do this?

I wasn't mentally prepared to drink blood; specifically not a child's blood. That was the most vile and disgusting thing I could do for crying out loud!

I doubted that I would ever be ready for this kind of life. I couldn't wrap my mind around what I had to do regularly from now on, around the meaning of this existence. Once more, I asked myself what I had done to myself to escape death.

"Just let it go, Vivian, and give your body what it desires," Krul stroked my hair. My desperate gaze met hers. I was in so much pain. The appetizing scent and resisting my thirst for it were causing me so much pain. Always pain… Would it never stop?

"I will hold you back when you try to take more than you should. I gave you a promise, didn't I? Now feed and complete the transformation."

At her reassuring words I felt myself relax somewhat and my control slipped. Everything else became hazy as I gave in to the craving and lost any coherent thoughts.

Tiny shoulders were held by my hands. Dark hair fell back and exposed an inviting neck. Tempting smelling blood was running through the veins...

The next thing I knew was that a hot, faintly coppery liquid, that was nothing short of heavenly, filled my mouth. I couldn't compare it to anything I had ever tasted because there was no comparison to this ambrosia.

Mesmerized, I sucked and swallowed more and more of the intoxicating, sweet liquid that made the burning inside my throat and the pain in my whole body subside and left nothing but pure bliss behind.

The more I drank, the better and even more irresistible my drink became, making me crave even more of it. I couldn't get enough of it, couldn't get enough of this feeling of euphoria and invigoration as I drank.

Lost, I was lost in the pleasure of quenching my thirst. All of my pain, sorrows and concerns were swept away, and I was energized and strengthened. My sole wish was to consume _everything_ of it, down to the last drop.

A hand on my shoulder pulled me away from my personal Heaven. Angry at the interruption, I turned around to find what had disturbed me while my tongue was swiping over my teeth and lips to savour the last bit of the luscious liquid.

I came face to face with Krul, who held an unconscious girl away from me. The sight was enough to make me realise what I had just done. What I had just drank to my heart's content and with immense delight.

 _'Human blood,'_ I realised with dread. It was as if someone threw cold water in my face and I woke up from my daze.

...What had I _done_? I had let myself get carried away by the thirst and had actually _relished_ the action and feeling of drinking blood.

Just now I had _enjoyed_ consuming the blood of a barely thirteen year old girl. It was the best thing I had ever tasted or experienced. I slammed my hand over my mouth in guilt, shame, utter disgust and horror at my actions, at myself and the pleasure I had felt while stealing someone's life force.

I hadn't been able to control myself for even a second. The thirst had been overwhelmingly strong and drinking the blood had been so indescribably good that I had completely lost myself to the sensation. How could I ever learn to resist this taste and feeling...?

Then my concern shifted to my victim. Had I accidentally killed the girl? Tears started to spill from my eyes and over my cheeks as I looked at her. I could still hear her the noise I identified as her heartbeat, but it was weaker than before.

A weird feeling suddenly spread through my whole body, and everything I perceived was even more intensified in its course. The light of the chandelier in the room was already too bright, but now it was like the midday sunlight on a hot summer day.

I clenched my eyes shut for a few moments. Even Krul and the girl's quiet breathing suddenly was incredibly loud, and every fibre of cloth on my skin felt nastier now. My head almost started to spin because of the sensory overload of my already sensitive senses.

If my body had been silent before, now it was at a _complete_ standstill – internally unmoving once the strange sensation had passed. I was puzzled about what had occurred.

"The human will be alright. I pulled it away from you before you consumed a life-threatening amount of its blood," Krul reassured me with a softness that surprised me. She called for a servant who removed the girl from my sight, but my eyes were glued to her unconscious form until she was out of the room.

I was kneeling on the ground like a sinner begging for forgiveness and felt like a true monster. There were not enough words to describe how disgusted I felt about myself and how appalled I was by my actions.

Mika had been right. I was sure that nobody of my friends would ever accept me the way I was now. _I_ didn't even want to accept myself.

It was all for nothing. I had almost killed a poor, innocent girl because I couldn't get enough of her _blood_. I had hurt a child because of my greed for blood. In that way I was no better than the bastards who had used me as an experiment. More tears streamed down my cheeks at that thought.

All of a sudden, I was engulfed in a hug by two small arms. "In time you will be able to control your thirst better," Krul comforted me – at least it felt like that. She petted my hair in a way that reminded me of my mother from my first life.

"I never want to do that again," I whispered and returned her hug, clinging to her for stability. I needed it. Even if it was Krul's offer and her cursed blood that had turned me into this vile creature, I had been the one who had lacked self-control.

"Remember that it was your request to learn to resist the craving for blood lest you won't endanger humans. This is what you are now, Kido Vivian, and you will have to accept this new existence in time. Do you understand?"

Krul's stern voice kept me from having an emotional breakdown. Additionally, I couldn't argue with her logic and nodded in defeat although I never wanted a repeat of what had just occurred. Learning to control the thirst for blood had been my own condition, but actually hurting another person to satisfy my hunger was cruel even if it had felt sinfully good.

 _'I'm a bloodsucking monster.'_

* * *

 **A/N:** The pace of the story will get faster in the next chapter again. Feel free to leave a review :D **  
**


	11. I Must Confess That I Feel Like A

************Disclaimer** : **********I don't own Owari no Seraph, its plot or characters, or any other mentioned books, songs, or series. They belong to their respective owners. I only own my OCs and the plot that deviates from canon or doesn't exist in canon. This is a non-profit fan fiction just for fun.

 _ **To NguyetMieu:**_ Hehe. The reunion with Shinya is going to be emotional, and yeah, Makoto is going to be pissed once he hears about Vivian's condition. You know him well xD

 _ **To JouleTheMuse:**_ Thank you for the compliment :D

 **A/N: Thank you so much for the reviews, many reads, and for following and favouriting _Between Two Worlds_! I'm thrilled to bits whenever a new notification pops up on my phone, haha. I'm sorry for the delay, but I'm really busy at the moment and was kind of dissatisfied with this chapter, so it took me some time to proof-read and edit it. In addition I wasn't in the mood for angst, haha. From now on updates will probably be slow.  
**

I hope I didn't scare you with the last chapter~. I tried to keep the being-a-vampire part as realistic as possible (lol), because it bothers me when I read something that just skips the unsavoury parts, or if the characters are totally fine with blood-drinking etc. right away. So, this chapter is going to focus on how Vivian deals with everything. Sorry for all the angst and vampy stuff in this chapter if that isn't your cup of tea (I guess that isn't the case if you're reading this), but there'll be some fluff in the next chapter to make up for it. And, of course, more interactions with the other vamps! The title of this chapter was inspired by the song 'Monster' by Skillet.

* * *

 **Chapter 11 – I Must Confess That I Feel Like A Monster**

Lacus and René escorted me to a new room upstairs. My old room was probably in need of some repairs. The first thing Lacus did once I'd stepped out of the Royal Audience Chamber in my traumatized and dishevelled state was to comment on the blood on my person, of course.

"Someone looks like they had a good time. How unfair that you were allowed to drink blood directly from the source inside Sanguinem," Lacus let his gaze travel over my blood-smeared mouth and chest area before he turned to the dark-haired city guard. "Isn't that right, René?"

"She is Queen Krul's progeny, so it was expected that the queen would grant her some special privileges, even if it is unfair on the rest of us," he stated unemotionally.

"Well, that's true," the other guard agreed and glanced once more at me. "You should feel lucky, former human."

Now aware that I must have made a mess of myself, I quickly wiped over my mouth with my right sleeve, as if that could erase what I had just done. Then I sank my head in shame, unable to look at anyone, and clutched self-consciously at the dress, at the red bloodstains on the formerly white fabric.

This blood belonged to the girl I had just bitten, the girl whose blood I had sucked with delight like the bloodthirsty monster I was. Even though the thirst and the maddening pain it had caused were completely gone, my heart ached because of the feeling of overwhelming guilt and shame. The mere memory of what I'd done filled me with disgust.

It was enough to make me spill more tears before I could stop them.

"Hmm? Was the blood so good that you have to cry? I haven't seen that reaction before," Lacus commented. "Must be because of your former human status."

Naturally, he had to turn to me at that very moment. I brushed the tears away with my clean hand, not wanting to be seen crying by him of all people. Or anyone at all.

"I personally prefer the blood of boys because it's less sweet than girls' blood," Lacus continued, completely insensitive and unsympathetic to my feelings, "but René picked a tasty smelling livestock for you."

I didn't want to hear any of this. Couldn't Lacus just shut up? Any more remarks about this topic and I was going to bolt to get away from him. I couldn't bear this any longer but didn't want to break down mentally in front of the two vampires. In preparation for my escape I looked around the corridors, ready to run away any moment now.

"Now I want to have a taste of–"

"Lacus, you just had your daily ration," René interrupted the other vampire's monologue and glanced back at me.

"True. But you know that it's never enough. Hopefully we'll get sent out on a mission soon, so I can drink directly from the livestock again," Lacus said with longing in his tone. I wanted to be sick, but my undead body had no physical reaction to the feeling.

"You should practise your self-restraint more," René admonished him.

"You're always so nitpicky, René," Lacus complained lightly.

Finally, thankfully, Lacus shut up after that, so that I didn't need to escape to evade hearing more of his prattle, and we soon reached our destination. My internal tumult had partially distracted me from the overwhelming sensations that my senses perceived.

Before I could take a hold of the door handle, however, René gave me a reprimanding look that said "don't you dare touch it" and opened it himself instead. He let me walk into the unlit room – it was balm for my eyes after the too bright lights in the corridors.

"Nobles sure get nice rooms," Lacus stated after peering into the room. Afterwards, they closed the door behind me and left me to my own devices.

The room was furnished in the same style as the one I had occupied before but was a little more spacious and had a few more decorations. It was held in red hues with golden ornaments and black accents. A thick, ruby carpet with golden linings covered most of the white marble floor.

Next to some kind of alcove that was hidden by crimson curtains was a small bedside table with a golden vintage clock that didn't tick although its hands were moving. I assumed that the bed was behind the curtains because I couldn't spot one anywhere in the room.

There were two red vintage sofas in the middle of the room, that were facing each other, and a wooden tea table stood between them. A small glass cabinet hung on the wall and a silent mini fridge was located right underneath it.

In another corner of the room was a massive wooden desktop with an intricate chair, and shelves, which held a few books, lined the wall. In contrast to my former room, this one had a large window close to the desktop, but it was hidden behind closed curtains.

After what had just occurred, I was more than uncomfortable with the blood red colour scheme. As I sauntered slowly through the room to make myself familiar with it, the sweet and alluring scent of the human blood on my dress wafted up to my nose and teased me. It began to reignite my craving for it when I had nothing else that distracted me from it...

I had to get out of the dress _right this instant_.

While being careful not to crash into the door this time, I entered the room that could be nothing but a bathroom. The door was slightly ajar, so I didn't have to worry about grabbing the handle too hard. This room was very similar to the other bathroom as well, but without a toilet and with a shower instead. On reflex, because I was used to turn on the light in the other bathroom whenever I entered it, I pushed the button next to the entrance.

Blinding light, that made me place one of my arms protectively in front of my eyes, engulfed the room. A second later I found the switch again, and the room was once more flooded in a more pleasant, normal brightness with the light off. Damn hypersensitivity.

I realised that the room had to be entirely dark – it didn't have a window – but once again I could see better in it than I ever had. It wasn't that different from what I saw during the day though there was a lack of natural shadow and there was a slight bluish-grey tint to everything, that hadn't been there in the light. Everything looked sharper and more defined than ever, had much more depth, and the colours were even more intensive than right after I'd woken up as a vampire.

It was overwhelming but incredibly beautiful. I hated myself for liking this new sight.

After marvelling at the weirdness of being able to see in the dark once more, my disoriented mind went back to the issue at hand – my bloodstained dress. I pulled it off in a hurry, ripping through the fabric once more by mistake with my new strength.

However, I could still smell the blood on my body, so another bath was necessary. I let lukewarm water into the big marble tub, embedded in the ground, and let my eyes wander around the room as I waited.

Aside from the walk-in shower, which I didn't dare to use at the moment because of my sensitive sense of touch, and a richly ornamented, body length painting of an unnaturally pale, naked woman.

My gaze was immediately drawn to the specks of red on her face. Something was smeared all over her mouth and across her chin and neck. And she had shiny, haunting crimson eyes, as well as slit pupils. The inhuman woman looked like a malicious spectre out of a horror film, but also like... me.

With a gasp I finally understood… that I was not looking at a painting, but into a mirror.

This _creature_ with bright red eyes was me. The expression on its face changed to shock. I couldn't avert my gaze from the eyes.

They should have been a dark brown colour and the pupils _round_. This colour was _wrong_ because it was the same colour as the girl's blood I had consumed. The pupils were dangerously slit like the pupils of a nocturnal _predator_ in the animal kingdom. Dried blood was smeared all over my mouth and chin as if I had gobbled down my meal like a wild animal.

This was the eye colour of a monster, and I also had the appetite and instinct of a monster... Mika had been right all along – I already regretted this. How could I ever face Shinya or my other friends again looking like _this_?

Silently, I sank down into the water of the walk-in bathtub and turned off the tap. I thought over everything while rubbed myself clean of the blood. What would happen if I ever met my friends in this state? Would I be unable to resist the urge to suck their blood, just like it had been with the girl? Would I hurt them because I craved their blood?

The mere thought of that was unbearable. I had chosen to become a vampire to see the people I loved again, and to stay by Mika's side, but I had nourished the hope that I would be somehow able to control the thirst for blood through sheer willpower. That assumption had been proven wrong.

I contemplated many different future scenarios inside my head, but none were even remotely good. Despite everything, it would probably be better for my friends if we never met again.

After the ordeal in Krul's throne room, I was convinced that I could only hurt them the way I was now and that they were better off without me. With this craving for blood I felt I couldn't live together with them anymore. Maybe Shinya would even want to exterminate me because of the way I looked and what I was now.

 _'What about Mika?'_ a small voice inside my head asked. What should I do about him? He had been right. I regretted my choice after everything I had told him. What a hypocrite I was. The shame and guilt I felt was overwhelming. I had _chosen_ to become a bloodsucker. How Mika must have felt at that… I couldn't face him anymore. Not with _these_ eyes. Not after what I'd done.

I soaked for a while longer in the water until the smell of blood was gone. As I dried myself with a towel, I avoided glancing into the tall mirror or the small one over the sink. I didn't bother with combing my hair or putting on new clothes before I slipped out of the bathroom. When I drew back the curtain of the small alcove, I was shocked to find a black, shiny coffin instead of a bed. I blinked once in incomprehension before I grimaced in disgust, feeling miserable by just having it in my line of sight.

Did the vampires really expect that I would sleep inside that thing? I removed the silken pillow and thin blanket from the coffin unceremoniously and lied down on the sofa facing the door.

My mind was a mess, an abyss of dark thoughts, and I was wide awake for a long time, not feeling tired in the least. It seemed that my changed body didn't physically require sleep. At some point however, I finally managed to doze off.

* * *

The moment someone walked down the corridor and placed a hand on the door handle to enter my room, my ears told me so and my mind snapped back into focus from whatever state of unconsciousness it had been in. With precision – as I was facing the door with my body – my gaze fell on the person in my doorway.

René's expressionless stare out of red eyes met mine. I could barely look at him because the light that came from the corridor behind him blinded me. How could it still be this bright? I squinted my eyes together in annoyance as I propped myself up on one elbow.

"Third Progenitor Krul Tepes wishes to see you," he informed me.

Nope... There was no way I was leaving the soothing darkness of my room. I wasn't ready to face anyone yet and wasn't sure if I would ever be. If I had the choice, I never wanted to leave this room ever again. I was still adjusting to everything, to my changed reality... if I _could_ even adjust. I was aware how whiny I was and hated myself for it, but thought that I was entitled to mope and brood for as long as I wished in my situation.

René's gaze wandered lazily from my face to my body, slowly scanning over it. Why was he…?

With mounting horror I noticed that the blanket had slipped partially off of me while I slept and hardly left anything to the imagination now. The blanket was wrapped around one of my legs and covered at least my private parts, but my upper body, my breasts, were only hidden by my right arm and long, wavy strands of my hair.

My face felt strange as I blushed furiously at my unclothed state and unwitting pose that screamed 'draw me like one of your French girls'.

"G-Get out!" I squeaked and quickly buried myself underneath the blanket like a child although the damage was already done. René, a virtual stranger and male vampire, had seen me almost completely naked! Damn.

"Please get dressed, Queen Krul is waiting for you," René repeated in his usually monotone tone, but I swore that I could hear a hint of amusement seeping into it.

My heart sank at his words. I knew why Krul was calling for me. I couldn't... I couldn't drink blood so soon again...! I began to tremble in internal anguish and against my will tears began to form in my eyes.

"...Please... no. I just..." I snivelled once before I could hold it back. "Could you please ask the queen whether she can give me some more time?" I whispered quickly to get everything out before he heard me snivel again.

This was utterly embarrassing and shameful. Crying in front of others was bad enough, but actually sobbing and having a mental break down in front of a vampire? Worse. So much worse. My voice sounded muffled because of the blanket and tears. I didn't like crying in front of others. I had already done it too often here in Sanguinem; first in Krul's presence and around Mika, then in the company of Lacus and René, and now in front of René. Again.

The vampire stayed silent for some time. "...I will relay your request to the queen."

I heard his light footsteps and then the door slammed shut behind him. His footsteps sounded for some time in the corridor but faded soon. Everything was silent after he had descended the stairs. I wasn't ready to think about what had just happened, or what I soon had to do again, so I didn't, wrapped the blanket around me like a cocoon, and went back to sleep after my last tears had been spilled and my sobs had quieted down.

* * *

The next time my rest was interrupted by the growing thirst and dry throat, that began to cause me slight pain. I groaned in annoyance and slight hysteria. I had to drink blood so soon again?! It couldn't have been more than one or two days... Desperation welled up in me as I sat up on the sofa.

At least I was more accustomed to the things my enhanced senses perceived and not as overwhelmed by everything. Once again I noticed that my body was eerily silent and unmoving internally, dead. Was that a result of my drinking human blood?

Would my body stay as it was now, never grow up or get older, and stay unchanging like Krul's? If that was indeed the case, I would never become an adult physically. It went over my head – I didn't want to be stuck in the body of a teenager for however long I would be alive. But it was a possibility.

I found a small comfort in the thought that I had a slightly above average height for my physical age and had been through puberty for the most part, so I didn't look like a complete child for all eternity. However, my face and body would never lose the softness and youthfulness of a teen girl who had yet to grow into an adult woman.

My eyes travelled to the door which was still shut – no one had entered my room since René. Krul must have granted my request if he didn't return to fetch me. But how could I ever face that vampire again? I flopped face first into my pillow again at the embarrassing memory and groaned. Not only had he seen me in an embarrassing condition but had also experienced my mental breakdown.

I guessed that René most likely didn't think twice about what had occurred, but it was mortifying to be seen by someone of the other gender in such a provoking pose and almost completely naked and exposed. And that squeal I'd let out... I thought that I was more mature mentally, but it seemed that wasn't the case, as I had zero personal experience with _that_ type of situations – in both lives. No man had ever walked in on me when I was in such a state of undress.

My thoughts wandered back to my growing thirst to get rid of the embarrassing thoughts. What should I do about it? I still wasn't ready to drink from another human again so soon. The guilt and disgust at myself were still nagging at me. I never wanted to drink blood again, but I was aware that I would have to because it was part of being a vampire.

There was no escaping from what my body craved.

...Could I really continue this existence? It always seemed so interesting in vampire films or series, but actually being a vampire yourself wasn't cool or amazing in any way. Just what had I been thinking by coming to Sanguinem?

This was not just a story; this was my _life_ , and it had changed into something monstrous, had gone down a path there was no return from, even if the choice of becoming a vampire had been my only chance to see my friends again.

What was Mikaela thinking about me now that I had drunk human blood? What would my friends or parents think about me and my actions? What was I going to do from now on...?

Similar thoughts whirled around in my head as I slipped on some silk underwear and a long-sleeved dress I found in the dresser – black this time and unlike the livestock uniform. I paced back and forth inside my room while I was trying to suppress the growing thirst for what felt like hours, and contemplated my situation.

My sensitive ears picked up the sound of someone coming down the corridor some time later, which made me stop in my tracks. This person, a vampire judging from the scent and light footsteps, placed something in front of my room and then left again after knocking on my door. Huh? What was that for?

I waited for a while longer but no one else came and my curiosity won. Once again I was careful as I pressed down the door handle. There was a small serving table with wheels right in front of the door. A wine glass and see-through glass bottle, that looked like the ones Krul always had standing right next to her throne on a small table, were placed on it together with a letter.

I rolled the table into my room and closed the door behind me. Then I took the letter and sat down on the sofa to read it.

 _I will grant you a few days to adjust to your changed self, but in return I expect you to come to my Audience Chamber without protest the next time I send for you. You are my progeny and not listening to your sire is unseemly behaviour. Don't forget why you have made this decision, Vivian. Will you let the Demon Army do as they please? Will you give up on your friends?_

 _Krul Tepes,_

 _Third Progenitor and Queen of Japan_

I was amazed that Krul had bothered to write me a letter and even more that she would give me some more time. And her questions… I knew that she was playing me, but Krul was also right. I shouldn't forget who my enemy was, what my goals were. Even if I decided to stay away from the people I loved, that didn't mean that they would be safe.

And I wanted to continue to help Mika however I could although he had been fine in the series. If I could just lessen the burden for him and be there for him… that was all I could ask for. I didn't know if I could face him again as I was now, but I could try to help him from the shadows in whatever form. That could be my reason of existence for now.

Also, if I never drank blood again, I wouldn't be able to help anyone, and turn into a demon, a monster that was even worse than a vampire. I hadn't endured all that shit for the past four years just to give up and become a mindless savage now.

I placed the letter into the first drawer of my bedside table and opened the lid of the one litre bottle. I already knew what was inside but nothing could prepare me for the delicious scent that made my mouth water in want but tormented my conscience.

My tongue ran hungrily over my fangs – only this time I noticed that they seemed to grow even longer – and lips as I filled the glass with the thick red liquid. It almost made me sick how much I craved the blood, even though I knew oh so well where it came from.

From an innocent child.

For a few more seconds I eyed the tantalizing substance, until I couldn't hold myself back anymore and gave in to the thirst. I drank everything in one gulp. What great self-restraint I had. Why was it so hard for me to resist? Mika had been able to do it, why couldn't _I_ do it? My control over myself was abysmal.

Resigned, I refilled the glass because I was still thirsty. I lasted maybe two seconds longer before emptying the glass again. I was disgusted at myself, utterly disgusted. I was a hideous, filthy bloodsucker. Now more than ever I understood why Mika had called himself an ugly vampire in the series.

After the second glass had entirely quenched my thirst, I quickly closed the bottle, deciding to keep some for later. My fangs returned to their normal length after I'd finished my bloody meal. When I had put the bottle into the mini fridge to keep the blood fresh, I went over to the thick blinds that were covering a large window with a comfy looking windowsill.

I resolved to let myself adjust to some light gradually. Turning on the lights inside my room was still out of the question and I wasn't in a _physically_ masochistic mood. I was already tormenting myself enough with my self-depreciating thoughts.

So, I sat down at the windowsill, leaning my back on the thick cushions as I gazed down into the lit streets of Sanguinem. They seemed really bright to me, but I knew that was only because I was a vampire now and had perfect night sight. As a human those lanterns had barely provided enough light for my eyes.

I watched some kids walking in line into a tall building near the palace I was currently living in. Was the blood in the bottle from one of them? Even from this high up and the considerable distance, I could clearly discern the facial features of the children without any issue. I was sure that I would never need binoculars again.

For some time I watched the children exit and enter the building, and saw city guards patrolling the vicinity once in a while. Then the lights got darker, and the human residents returned to their houses as the night curfew started. I didn't move the whole time I sat there, I didn't feel the need to.

Sometime late during the curfew, I got a little drowsy – it felt different than tiredness as a human –despite not actually feeling the _need_ to sleep and dozed off for a bit.

Since that last visit to my mindscape I also hadn't dreamt again.

* * *

With reluctance and disgust at my desire I drank the last two glasses from the bottle after waking up, placing both back onto the serving table and subsequently depositing it outside my room.

During the day I resolved to work out as I had done until my escape from the JIDA. I needed to get used to my changed body and strength – I didn't want to destroy everything I touched though I had done an acceptable job at not destroying things in the past days. Also, I had to do something, or I would go bonkers with all the self-depreciating thoughts whirling around inside my head. Anything to get my mind off of them.

It was disturbing but also impressive that I could walk while doing a handstand without my arms getting tired or my head getting dizzy, I didn't even get hot or sweaty during my workout. As a precaution I'd locked my door this time, so no one could see me doing slightly ridiculous poses while wearing only underwear; the elegant dresses in the dresser were a hindrance. But I guessed if a vampire ever wanted to enter my room, the lock on the door wouldn't stop them for even a second. It only gave me the illusion of privacy.

A while later, I heard that someone placed a new bottle and glass on the serving table, just when my thirst became noticeable again. I took the table back in and repeated the actions of the other day, keeping reign over my thirst for a few seconds more with each glass. Guilt gnawed at me again. Whose blood had I drunk today? I would never know.

Afterwards, I tried calling for my wings out of curiosity and to confirm whether I still had them, but absolutely nothing happened. The feeling I got when I called for them was gone, and there was no glow underneath my skin either. Maybe I truly had lost them like I had seen in my mindscape when I was turned into a vampire. For a moment I was saddened by the thought that I would never fly freely through the sky ever again.

The wings had saved my life; they were the reason why I had made it so far even if I didn't want them in the first place. But it was only natural that I didn't have them anymore.

Because vampires didn't have wings.

* * *

The following days were not that different. I woke up, 'ate breakfast', did some normal training exercises and karate exercises as well as I was able to inside my room, and watched the city while having my last glass of blood for the day. It was disgusting how casually that fit into the day.

I developed a sense for the time in Sanguinem and my new sleeping schedule – I got a little drowsy and dizzy around 7 a.m. when the sun rose and rested until 5 p.m. every day, when the sun went down – and started to somewhat adjust to my changed body and its craving. Still, it was weird not to consume something solid, nor feeling the need to. I also adapted to my enhanced senses over the days, but I was still bad at controlling my thirst for blood.

I gradually accepted the blood drinking as a new part of my life though I wasn't okay with it and hated myself for it, and doubted that I could face Mikaela anytime soon. He hasn't visited me during all this time. Maybe he was already appalled by me and my actions.

* * *

At noon on the sixth day since Krul's letter, someone knocked on my door but didn't wait for me to answer it. He marched right in while I was reading a book. Fortunately, I wore a dress and had brushed my hair so I looked presentable. But seriously – what was it with vampires and not waiting before entering a room? Didn't they know or care for common courtesy? Probably the latter.

My visitor turned out to be Lacus. At least it wasn't René. I was still embarrassed at the memory of our last encounter.

"Is the queen calling for me?" I asked him.

"Yes. In case you're not willing to go, I'm allowed to resort to any methods I see fit." In other words he would drag me out of here by force if he had to. And I knew from experience that he would have no qualms about doing it.

I stood up from my seat at the windowsill after I had placed down the book and followed Lacus out of the room. I still didn't like being around him. I could hold grudges for a long time.

"Let's hurry, former human, so I can get some blood. I'm hungry," the vampire stated and sauntered down the corridor with me in tow. This time I could deal with the light.

"In case you forgot it, my name is Vivian," I broke the silence.

"I know."

Hmm, okay. So he didn't want to call me by my name, huh? Not that I minded much, I had only said something to Lacus because I wanted to talk to _someone_ after staying cooped up in my room and not conversing with anyone for days. Even if that someone was Lacus.

"So, how do you like the taste of human blood so far? Isn't it the best thing you've ever had, now that you're not livestock anymore?" Was he attempting to make small talk or was he just a chatty person?

And why did all of the topics he ever talked about revolve around blood? I really didn't want to answer this particular question. I hated myself for even liking blood.

I said nothing, avoided his questioning gaze, and ignored that Lacus specifically peered at my eyes, that were now the same blood-red colour as his, with a knowing smirk on his face. It pissed me off and made me feel even more ashamed about myself.

Lacus opened the door to the throne room, let me inside, and bowed slightly for the queen before he left. I approached Krul, who was sitting boredly on her throne, and greeted her.

"Have you adjusted now, Vivian?" Krul came straight to the point and put away the vampire equivalent of a tablet PC.

"Somewhat…" ' _No, not really. How can one adjust to drinking human blood?! I don't even want to adjust to that!'_ I thought but didn't say it out loud. It wouldn't change anything about my situation. At times I knew when to stay silent.

"Good, because from now on you will learn to control your thirst, so it won't become a hindrance in the future. Usually, vampires learn that over time, or never." My heart sank at her words. The thought of harming a child again because of their blood was horrifying. I knew that I would have to face that issue again sooner or later, but I had hoped it would be later.

"Once you are able to control yourself to my satisfaction, you will receive swordplay lessons. You have told me in one of our chats that you have experience in fighting with swords and in hand-to-hand combat?" She didn't want to wait with any part of my "education", did she? At least kendō was something I enjoyed.

"Yes. I know a thing or two about kendō and also karate. I've never fought with a real sword, though."

"I already have a suitable teacher in mind for you. Did you practice calling forth your wings and other abilities?" Krul inquired.

"Yes, but... it seems that I have lost them completely after becoming a vampire. Nothing happens anymore when I call for them."

Krul sighed. "How disappointing, although it was expected."

A question to a different concern popped up in my head at that. "Ah, can I ask why either René or Lacus are always escorting me? Couldn't a servant or someone else do that?" I was eager to know the answer.

Krul smirked slightly at me. "They are the ones who have brought you to Sanguinem, so it is only logical to put them in charge of you. Although you've been compliant for the most part, I had the feeling it would be prudent to let two of my most experienced and capable city guards handle a potentially dangerous person. I, a Third Progenitor, was the one who turned you, so even now as a newborn vampire you're naturally stronger than most guards after all."

That was the reason why they had their weapons with them every time they visited me, and why I had never seen a servant since I got turned into a vampire.

"You will stay inside my palace until you can fully control your thirst for blood. I will allow you to enter the city once you can do that," Krul added.

So I would be cooped up inside this castle until I wasn't a potential hazard anymore… Considering how I had reacted to a human the last time and how many humans ran around in Sanguinem that was probably a good thing.

"May I still go to the music room and maybe… if there is something like a training room here… could I exercise and practise there?" I begged Krul. I needed an outlet for all my pent up negative feelings and a change of scenery. Staying cooped up in a room that I couldn't leave was an unbidden reminder of the past four years.

"That is acceptable. You may walk around my castle as you please, but you aren't allowed to leave it. There is a ballroom in my palace that you can use for training if you don't destroy it. It should be large enough to fit your needs."

I nodded in acceptance. "Thank you. If it's not too much to ask... Could I also receive some different clothes than dresses, like trousers and shirts I can exercise in?" I didn't really like being overly dependent on someone or having to ask Krul for such trivial things, but I didn't know who else to turn to. I certainly wouldn't ask Lacus for them.

"I've already suspected as much and have ordered new clothes and shoes for you. A servant will most likely have brought them to your room by now. I will instruct someone to get you training trousers," she said in a slightly annoyed tone. Well, at least I would get my trousers now.

"Thank you," I smiled and bowed.

"If you want something else in the future, just ask the servants you come across. They will get it for you if it isn't too unreasonable. Now… it's time for your lesson." At Krul's word a servant entered the Audience Chamber with a child in his hands that he placed on the ground. Very close to me.

It was another unconscious girl. Her scent and the sound of her heartbeat slapped every thought out of my head until I was only able to perceive the hot, delicious smelling blood that was running through her veins. I wanted it.

Instantly, my mind was consumed by the thirst, and I bared my aching fangs, that elongated. I wanted blood, right now. No, I _needed_ it. I grabbed the source… Girl.

 _'It is a girl!'_ I screamed mentally at myself, and pulled back from her in repulsion at my action and thoughts before I could bite her.

"Very good. You could hold back for a moment. Now drink until the blood gets even more inviting. That is the critical point. If you move past it, you will most likely kill a human," Krul lectured me.

I listened to her with difficulty as my mind and senses were clouded with _thirst._ For a few more moments I fought against my instincts, but then my willpower waned and my fangs found their way to her throat.

A second later a divine taste filled my mouth and soothed the burning pain in my throat. It made me feel pleasantly warm and quenched my thirst. Fresh blood tasted so much better than the cold blood from the bottle, there was no comparison. Biting someone and drinking from them was ultimate bliss and pleasure. Greedily I drank the warm intoxicating liquid, that got sweeter and sweeter with every passing second. I couldn't get enough of it.

 _'Wait, don't_ …' something inside of me protested faintly.

Before I was aware of it, I was pulled away from… My gaze fell on the _girl_ Krul was holding. Instantly, my mind snapped back to reality, and I placed my face inside my hands. I had done it again. I had savoured the taste of a child's blood.

How could I?! How could I learn to control this thirst?! It was so damn hard!

"You've done better than last time. Good job, Vivian. Come back at the same time the day after tomorrow." Krul placed the girl on the ground without a worry.

My eyes landed on the two small holes in the girl's neck – _my_ bite marks. Small trails of blood, that originated from them, were running down her neck. I turned around quickly and almost sprinted to the door when the smell of the blood got overwhelming and my body began to demand for more of it.

I didn't stop running until I was in the safety of my room, tears of guilt and self-hate streaming down my face again.

* * *

 **A/N: Feel free to leave me a review to tell me what you think :D I hope I depicted the vampire lore of OnS properly and that you enjoyed the chapter!**


	12. Facing Your Fears

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Owari no Seraph, its plot or characters, or any other mentioned books, songs, or series. They belong to their respective owners. I only own my OCs and the plot that deviates from canon or doesn't exist in canon. This is a non-profit fan fiction just for fun.

 ** _To NguyetMieu:_** I'm glad I could make you happy with my update! Ah, your apt description of a scenario in which Vivian not quite meets Mako-chan made me giggle. I don't want to spoil one of my future chapters, so I can just say that yeah, she'd totally do that (*≧▽≦). And thank you for the suggestion with writing the progenitor rank numbers out – it really does feel more formal that way, so I changed it. When I started this story I was too lazy to write the ranks out.

 ** _To eragon95159:_** Thank you for stopping by again!

 ** **A/N:**** I think I am in need of a beta reader who is either a native English speaker, or someone who is more proficient in English than me, because no matter how many times I read the English comma rules online, sooner or later I tend to slip back into the grammar style I'm used to (at least I think so) and completely confuse myself. There are probably tons of other mistakes I make without even noticing them, and you're all just too nice to tell me about them, so if someone ever feels up to the task, even if it's just for one chapter, feel free to PM me. I don't bite xD

Anyway, I somehow found the time to edit this chapter. The angst-arc is finally coming to an end in this chapter! Enjoy!

* * *

 ** **Chapter 12 – Facing Your Fears****

Over a time frame of three weeks I got somewhat better at controlling my blood lust and gradually became used to what I had to do in order to sustain my body. But I still couldn't stop hating myself for what I was doing and what I was feeling while sucking human blood. I avoided Mikaela just as he avoided me, because I was unable to face him while I was doing these despicable things.

Aside from Shinya and my other friends, he was on my mind most of the time. I felt extremely guilty for avoiding Mika, but he hadn't approached me either, so I guessed that he didn't want to see me anymore. Because I was a monster now that regularly drank human blood from _children_.

Like promised, I had received clothes I could use for physical training and added exercising in the ballroom to my daily schedule. I was glad that I wasn't holed up inside my room all the time anymore and could come and go in Krul's castle as I pleased. I wasn't a prisoner here. Not like back _there_.

But there was a lack of social intercourse – Krul, Lacus, René and the occasional servant were the only ones I talked with. Not that I was exactly talkative at the moment.

* * *

After another week had passed, I entered the music room, having already had my self-control lessons I had every two days. This time I had the intention to actually play an instrument instead of merely spending some time here. In the past weeks I hadn't felt like making music. Hadn't felt like doing anything at all.

However, instead of sitting down at the piano, I picked up a violin. I had never played one in this life. It had reminded me too much of my dear first mother Beatrix, who had taught me how to play the violin, and the life that I had lost. Now I was ready to play it again.

Mum had died in a traffic accident when I was fourteen. The emergency doctors had done what they could to save her life when they arrived, but it had been too late, her injuries and inner bleeding had been too severe so she died at the crash site.

My father Markus and I had been devastated because no one had expected something like that; it was so sudden. But that was life – bad things happened and you couldn't predict them most of the time. I hadn't been able to take a violin into my hands for ten years since then.

After Mum's death I had undergone therapy while I was in middle school. During that time frame I had learned to play the piano and later set my goal on studying music like her.

I picked up the small case the instrument rested in and placed it on one of the seats. Gingerly, I opened the case and stroked over the violin once before I placed it underneath my chin. With great care I drew the bow over the strings, so I wouldn't damage it because of my enhanced strength.

After not having played a violin in years, I was completely out of practice so I played one of the first pieces Beatrix had taught me. The sweet, simple melody filled the room and comforted my feelings of guilt and self-hatred. Of course, the music sounded louder to my enhanced hearing, but I could also hear the nuances of each note much clearer. Then it was as if a dam had burst and I couldn't stop playing more pieces I had learned from her.

I wondered if my parents from both lives would get along if they ever met each other in another world, and came to the conclusion that, yes, the probably would. But then I pondered about what they would think of me if they could see me now. Their daughter who had turned into a vampire. What would my friends think? The melody I was playing became sombre.

All of a sudden the door to the music room was thrown open. "Vivian-san?"

My body grew still like a statue at the sound of Mika's voice and the room was consumed by silence.

Why was he here? I thought he didn't want to see me anymore? I had also avoided him because I was too afraid to confirm the truth. I wouldn't be able to stand it if he looked at me with hate-filled eyes. So I ran from my fears. Now I could still pretend that everything between us was fine.

When had I become such a coward...?

I stood rigidly with my back to the entrance while feather-light footsteps, that were accompanied by the rustling of fabric, headed toward me. With every advancing step my panic grew. Mikaela stopped right next to me, and I turned my head to the side, so he couldn't see my face or _the eyes_.

"Vivian-san are you okay now? I haven't seen you since… well… the day we took the photo…" he asked, worry apparent in his voice. I didn't deserve it. Why was he worried about me? Mika came even closer and tried to look into my face, but I flinched.

No! He shouldn't look at me! I had just drunk a boy's blood in Mika's age and had enjoyed it...! The red, red blood that had turned my eyes the same colour. Mikaela would see the ugly monster that I had become. He would see it and hate me.

"Don't... don't look at me!" I whispered with a tremble in my voice and deeply ashamed of myself, before I bolted from the room as fast as I could. I couldn't stand the thought of Mika hating me, or seeing the disappointment and revulsion in his eyes. So I ran like the coward I was to escape his judgement. I closed the door of my room behind me and sunk down at it. The violin was still inside my hands and I stared blindly at it.

I was aware that I was acting like one of those annoying characters in anime or TV series I'd always hated, but it was so hard to face Mika. So hard to confront my own fears. I couldn't even accept myself at the moment, so how could I expect someone else to do it?

For the rest of the day – or rather, night – I brooded in silence inside my room until I got a little drowsy around sunrise though no sun ray ever reached the underground city of Sanguinem. I suspected that the slight drowsiness I felt during the daylight hours served as a natural warning bell; that I should rather go to sleep than walk around when the sunlight could negatively affect me.

Krul had told me that a vampire would go up in flames if UV light touched their skin and they didn't wear an UV-suppressing band. She hadn't given me one yet, and Mika didn't own one yet either. A safety precaution to prevent us from escaping during the day perhaps?

Even though I could have stayed awake with no difficulties, because I was unable to truly feel physically tired and didn't actually need to sleep anymore, I decided to welcome it so I would be relieved of the depressing thoughts for a few hours.

* * *

Two days later I was finally able to control myself and let go of the poor child I was drinking from before the blood loss would become critical. My body and every instinct in it had demanded of me to suck the human dry, but I'd resisted that overwhelming urge.

"Very good. I will test you three more times, and then your combat skills will be evaluated before you receive swordplay lessons," Krul informed me as I carefully laid the child on the ground. My eyes lingered on the two small circular wounds on the boy's neck for a moment longer.

Guilt welled up in me, as always, but I sighed in relief. I wouldn't have to do this all the time anymore, just three more times. Only three more times. I could do this.

* * *

The days went by as usual and I was able to keep a hold on myself while I sucked blood from humans the next two times. However, Krul had planned something different for me on the final test.

A boy I estimated to be around fifteen years old, who wore the typical livestock clothes, hesitantly walked into the throne room. I sent Krul a puzzled look as the teen came to a halt some distance away from us.

Krul was lounging on her throne – her intervention hadn't been needed since more than a week ago. I was standing at the foot of the stairs that led up to her throne and watched the teen fidget in fear and nervousness. The sound of his blood pumping faster through his veins and its smell were enticing, but I didn't approach him even though the terrible thirst in my body demanded for the boy's blood.

"I-I'll get the medicine my sister needs if I give you some of my blood, right? Like the other vampire told me?" the teen asked the queen nervously.

He was here for his sister and was willing to sell his blood for her sake? That sounded like something a good brother would do, although it was very dangerous to accept an offer like this – the teen must be out of options. He was willing to risk his own well-being for a person he loved... I admired that.

"Of course. Once you've done your part, you will receive the medicine," Krul assured him and shot me a meaningful look.

For my last test I had to bite someone who was conscious of my actions. He would see and feel how I drank his blood. He would see me as what I was now – an inhuman, bloodsucking creature.

Did Krul want to see how I handled that? I was overcome by a feeling of dread at the situation. Why did I have to do this...?

"Vivian," Krul urged me in a demanding tone.

If I could still sweat, I totally would, because this situation was distressing. My gaze landed on the teen, who was staring at the ground, doubtlessly wishing to be anywhere else but here. He most likely wanted to return to his sister's side as fast as possible...

For both our sakes, I should get it over with quick. I approached him at a slow pace, so I wouldn't frighten him any more than he already was, but as soon as his eyes fell on me, his heartbeat quickened. The smell of his blood increased in intensity as it rushed faster through his veins, which made the burning thirst in me even worse, made it harder to fight it.

I could understand why this was the last test; it was a more realistic situation than the other times with the unconscious children.

Then I stood right in front of the boy and felt the warmth radiating from his body, heard the delicious sound of life pulsating through his veins even louder than before. The artery on his neck and the blood flowing inside it appeared to be showing through his skin. The lust for it was overwhelming and made me gulp. With another step I was as close as I needed to be to reach him, however, the boy was overcome by fear, judging from his expression, and took a few steps back, which made me feel even worse about this whole business.

"..." An idea came to me. "Think of your sister. You're doing this for her, right?"

The teen's eyes widened at my words while Krul sighed on her throne. I continued in a soft and calm tone to appease the boy who was Makoto's age, "Please try to stay still and don't struggle or I could accidentally hurt you."

He met my sympathetic gaze, longer this time, and his heartbeat calmed down a bit though I could tell that he was still scared.

"A-alright I-I'll try," he stuttered and I smiled lightly at him in response. This was the best that I could do.

Carefully, I shifted the fabric of his livestock jacket around and exposed his neck. Just in case, so he couldn't collapse or try to run from me and hurt himself in the process, I placed my hands on his shoulders and pressed him against one of the pillars. The teen shuddered under my cool touch... Or in repulsion. This whole experience was going to give me even more self-esteem issues.

My fangs elongated by instinct just before I sank them into the thin skin of his neck as carefully as my self-control allowed. The teen didn't move, as if he was paralysed by my action, and I felt him go a little limp under my hands.

Or did being bitten feel as blissful as sucking blood? That was a rather uncomfortable thought, but... I guessed it was better than to cause serious pain.

In an instant I could taste the teen's warm blood on my tongue. With each gulp I took of the delicious red liquid, my thirst lessened but my body still demanded for more. It was hard to resist the urge to drink the human dry – the desire to do so was almost irresistible. All of my reason seemed to get thrown out of the window as soon as I tasted blood. Each person had a unique taste that differed depending on their sex and age.

And each time I sucked someone's life force the sense of pleasure I felt during the act seemed to grow greater. It made me feel even more disgusted with myself and worry whether it would get more difficult in the future to restrain myself from drinking someone to death.

It was almost impossible to hold onto my composure, but now that I was aware of what to expect, I forced myself with everything I had not to get distracted by the superior taste of blood, or get lost in the deep ecstasy I felt while drinking it. But it was hard. Extremely so.

' _This could be Makoto, Shū or... Shinya,'_ I reminded myself time and time again. Just like my mantra in that research facility, that I had held onto to survive, I repeated this new mantra in my mind to stay in control whenever I feasted on a human's blood. Macabre, yes, but this was how I had become able to stop myself from sucking a person dry.

As soon as the red liquid got even better, I forced myself to cease my actions, took the teen's left hand and pressed it to the wound after I had licked up the last remnants of blood. Then I stepped away from him while my tongue slid over my lips to remove the last bits of my sanguinary meal. Fortunately, I wasn't as messy as in the beginning and hadn't spilled much of it.

"Keep your hand on the wound," I advised the fifteen-year-old.

The teen nodded in response and obeyed. He was in a daze but seemed otherwise okay despite being a little paler than before. For a second I was proud of myself, until I realized that I took pride in _sucking_ _his blood_. Shame immediately replaced the pride, but I had to admit that the training had been useful.

I doubted that I could have learned how to control the thirst all on my own without killing someone on accident. Hopefully, my acquired self-control would prevent that I drained people if I ever needed to consume the blood directly from the source.

I felt indescribable guilty for using all those children like blood bags, but in the long run it was better for all of us if I could control my thirst. They lived here in Sanguinem with me after all... But I couldn't forgive myself for enjoying biting someone and drinking from them, no matter how hard I tried to deny it. Deep down I knew the horrible, despicable truth. And it terrified me.

"You can go now, human. Someone will deliver the medicine to your home today," Krul instructed the boy, who then left the room in a hurry. My eyes were set on him until he was out of sight. Somehow he'd looked as if he was ashamed.

"I would have preferred it if you didn't talk to your meal, Vivian," Krul stated dryly. I shrugged my shoulders in response. It had worked to help the human calm down, which had in turn helped me to keep the blood lust in check.

"Your fighting skills will be tested tomorrow – I want to see what you are already capable of. You will be allowed to roam Sanguinem freely afterwards now that you've grown accustomed to your instincts. Remember that it is forbidden to drink directly from a human in the city. I've made an exception for you until now."

"I understand. I'll do my best to control myself." It was a promise to her and myself.

"That being said, you should talk to Mikaela. I've instructed him to let you be for a while, until you had adjusted to your new circumstances, but he became withdrawn again in the past few days," Krul revealed. "He isn't even keeping up with his studies anymore, which is quite troublesome." My eyes widened at her words.

Mika had been considerate towards me for the past four weeks? He hadn't avoided me out of disgust but because he thought that I needed time to myself? And I must have hurt his feelings that day in the music room when I ran away from him. I sighed at my own silliness. Sometimes I was an idiot.

"I'll try to talk to him," I responded and was dismissed by Krul. I was in a daze while I walked back to my room and mulled over how I should approach Mika again. As soon as I had closed the door behind me, I threw myself onto the sofa and stared at the ornate ceiling.

I had to face my demons sooner or later... Maybe Mika didn't hate me like I'd been fearing, but I still felt guilty about my actions, about what I had become, and I was afraid to find out how he would look at me, what he would think about me. Would he be disappointed by me? Would he be–

A soft knock interrupted my brooding. I waited for the person to enter without my consent, but the door didn't open. I furrowed my brows. Had some of the vampires finally learned some manners?

Just as I was about to tell the person to come in, they spoke.

"Vivian-san... please, can you listen to me for a moment?"

I almost fell off the sofa. What...? _What?_ I was surprised beyond belief. Mika was here. Mika had bothered coming here.

I remained silent as he continued, "I'm sorry that I didn't try harder to convince you to stay a human. And because of me Krul made you drink human blood right away... Maybe... if you hadn't met me, you wouldn't have felt obligated to help me or stay by my side… It's all my fault…"

He let out a heavy sigh. "I can understand if you don't want to see me anymore, but I still need to return your locket. It's very important to you, isn't it? I'll... I'll just leave it here on the ground, okay?"

Tears trailed down my cheeks while I listened to him. Mika thought it was his fault that I was a vampire, despite having heard my reasons for accepting Krul's offer? He thought that I didn't want to see him anymore, because he assumed that I blamed him for becoming a monster? How did he come to that ridiculous conclusion?

It had been _my_ decision to become a vampire, and the only ones that were really at fault for this mess were the JIDA and the scientists who made me sick with their experiments. And whoever had unleashed the apocalypse upon the world. I'd never gone to the vampires otherwise.

So Mika actually didn't hate me or feel repulsed by my actions? It had all been false assumptions on my part because I had been too afraid to find out the truth? I had to suppress the urge to slam my head against a wall because of my stupidity and focused on Mika instead.

This adorable, precious boy… I would ignore my feelings of guilt and self-hatred if it meant that he would be happy again. Or just happier than he was now. Mika deserved all the happiness in this world.

Before I could get cold feet, I sprinted towards the door, opened it, and threw myself at the blonde, who was about to place the locket on the ground.

"Mika!" I hugged him tightly while a few tears ran down my face.

"Vivian…san?" he asked in surprise and confusion at my actions.

"I'm so sorry Mika! I was avoiding you because I thought _you_ didn't want to see _me_ anymore... I couldn't face you, but that wasn't because I blamed you. I... I felt ashamed, so very ashamed of myself, and... I was afraid that you would _hate_ me for what I have become and done, so I hid from you like a coward instead of confronting you to find out the truth. It was _my_ decision to become a vampire – _you_ did nothing wrong. Please... don't feel responsible for something that is my own fault."

I noted that I had spoken in Kansai dialect during my emotional outburst. Here in Sanguinem I tried to speak Standard Japanese, so everyone would be able to understand me – the vampires apart from Mika I'd met so far were all foreigners after all and had probably just learned Standard Japanese. Not that I knew for certain; I hadn't talked to that many yet.

Mika slowly brought up his arms around me and returned the embrace. "Vivian-san…" I could feel him clutching my blouse. Maybe he'd been almost as worked up as I. We remained like that for a while until both of us had calmed down.

"Please forgive me, Mika," I whispered sorrowfully and gave him one more squeeze before I let go of him.

And then, for the first time in more than a month, our eyes met. I was still afraid of his reaction once he saw my tear-filled blood-red eyes. Mika looked at them for a moment but only sadness was reflected in his own blue eyes. Not the disgust I had expected and feared.

That was everything I needed. I gave him a watery smile as a feeling of bittersweet happiness welled up in me, and wiped away the last remnants of my tears.

"By the way, you don't have to suddenly call me with -san again. Like I've said before, just call me by my name or Nee-chan if you want to."

"...Okay. Onee-chan... how are you?"

I was excited to hear him call me by that again even though the topic of the question let me lose my smile soon. "Not well, but better now after talking with you. I'm– I really _hate_ myself at the moment," I mumbled.

Understanding shone on Mika's face and his expression darkened. "Now you know why I've tried to warn you not to accept Krul's offer. This... _existence_ didn't save either of us. We've both become monsters that aren't really alive anymore and feed on blood."

My heart sunk further at his words but I couldn't agree. However... "At least we have each other and aren't alone in this. Not after talking to each other again," I pointed out the only positive thing.

"Someone to share our misery with, huh?" Mika said sarcastically, a good portion of self-loathing in his tone.

"Maybe. But we also have someone who understands what we're going through..."

The boy smiled humourlessly in response. I knew that this was only a small comfort if any at all. We both weren't okay – we were far from it – but maybe, hopefully, we would be some day. For now life – human or not – was going on... and I was speaking to Mika again, which was definitely good.

Mika placed the locket he had been holding onto into my palms. "Here."

"Thank you for keeping it safe for me, Mika," I said as I opened it with great care and looked at the newest picture. That small folded piece of Shinya's message was still there as well.

"It was nothing."

I shook my head in disagreement. "Do you want to come in and chat for a while longer?" I asked him, feeling hopeful once more.

Mika nodded.

* * *

The tween sat down next to me on the sofa while we spoke about the things that had been on our minds for the past month. Finally, I decided to tell him about my upcoming test.

"Krul is going to test my hand-to-hand combat and swordsmanship skills tomorrow. I hope she'll be satisfied with my display…" I trailed off.

Apart from assessing my current skill level, maybe she also wanted to confirm that I was just like any other vampire now even if I had been a failed seraph?

This aroused Mika's curiosity. "What exactly can you do?"

"Well, I know some karate." Shinya had taught me a few tricks, too. "I'm better at kendō, though."

Mika looked thoughtful. "Speaking about abilities, are you still able to... summon wings?" He sounded hesitant, as if he was wondering whether the topic was a taboo issue for me.

I furrowed my brows. "...No. No, I'm not as far as I can tell. I believe I have lost that ability when I was turned into a vampire."

"That's probably for the best."

"Yeah... But even if it was freaky and the result of some fucked-up experiments, at least the act of flying itself wasn't that bad."

"I'm not sure I can agree with that. A normal human shouldn't be able to fly."

"Well, you're not wrong. I never wanted the wings in the first place, but they were useful for escaping."

Mika couldn't argue with that.

"Do you want to see how I fare in my test tomorrow? I'm pretty sure that Krul would allow you to watch if we asked her." It would be encouraging to have him there.

"I am kind of curious... I'll ask her for permission later," Mika said after thinking over it, then he was suddenly worried again. "Vivi-nee, even though you don't have the wings anymore, some vampires and humans have seen you with them in Sanguinem, right? Isn't that dangerous?"

Krul had already revealed to Mika that he and the other orphans had been experimented on by the humans as well. That they had been part of the Seraph of the End project, that was forbidden to meddle with per vampire law, just like me. It was a dangerous topic to be associated with.

"She has ordered the few vampires who have seen me with the wings to secrecy so the information isn't getting spread. To think that I waltzed right through Sanguinem with my wings on display… At least I only told Krul what kind of project I had been part of exactly."

A rather dumb and risky act on my part in retrospect, but I had been desperate and about to die anyway. I also hadn't known that the wings could vanish.

We had to hide that part of my past from the Progenitor Council, just to be safe, even if I was a complete vampire now and could probably never turn into a seraph or even use my wings again. The few human children of Sanguinem who had seen me were probably thinking that I was dead. They wouldn't recognize me as a vampire or without the wings and most vampires wouldn't bother to interrogate human children just to investigate some rumours. I was lucky that the wings hadn't been a permanent addition – they would have needed to be removed.

"A typical Yū-move on your part," Mikaela sighed. Oho, was this how he wanted to play?

"Oh~? It's the comeback of the feisty Mika," I tackled him with a grin and gave him a bear hug.

"It's Mikaela-sama to you!" he retorted on reflex, and tried to escape from my hold, but it was futile. I was stronger than him. Ah, I could do this all day.

"I'm not your teddy bear!" Mika protested after struggling unsuccessfully for a while.

"But maybe I want you to be. I'm seriously hug-deprived~! Any longer without any hugs and I'd become emotionally stunted."

"Onee-chan..." the boy sounded exasperated but somewhat sympathetic at the same time. "...Only for five more minutes then."

I sighed in content and placed my chin on his head as I held him in my arms. Like me he didn't emit any warmth and didn't have a heartbeat, but it was comforting nonetheless. "Great~. I'm glad that I made up with you, Mika." I didn't know what would have become of me if I didn't. If I would have become like some of the other vampires.

Unfeeling. Uncaring about anything but my desire for blood. A mere husk of myself. I had been wallowing in self-pity and shame just an hour ago, but the feelings were growing weaker each day, as if they were stifled by a blanket of apathy. But the moment I saw Mika again, a spark of life had returned to me.

"Me too..." It was comfortably silent between us for some time. I wondered whether he'd been feeling the same. "Do you regret becoming a vampire, Vivi-nee?"

I let go of him to look him in the eyes. "Sometimes we make wrong decisions with the best intentions…"

"...What about your friends? Are you going to give up searching for them?" Mika asked, hitting the nail right on the head. This had been troubling me in the past month. He was very perceptive.

What was I going to do about my friends? If I had learned anything from my reconciliation with Mika just now, then that it was better to confirm the truth than to assume something and hide out of fear of getting rejected.

"Maybe I should at least try to meet them and have a conversation with them before I give up on seeing them entirely. I'll leave the decision whether they still want to associate with me up to them."

Even if Shū, Shinya and Makoto couldn't accept me as I was now, I'd try to make the world a safer place for them by eliminating the JIDA – the scientists first. Oh, but it would hurt to separate from my friends forever, especially my only remaining best friend Shinya.

"That sounds like a plan."

"What about you, Mika? What are you going to do about Yū?"

"I'm not sure yet... Yū-chan hates vampires." His face displayed his dejection.

"You're not a complete vampire yet. And he called you his family, didn't he?" I encouraged him.

"He did, but... that was then..."

"Like I've said before, I think he'd be happy to see you again, no matter what."

"How can you be so sure about that? Yū-chan isn't the sharpest tool in the shed…" he trailed off. A few seconds later, I couldn't hold in the laugh anymore.

"Hahaha! Mika, you're savage!" The way he had said it as if it was the most natural thing in the world...

Mika smiled lightly. "It's the truth. You don't know how many headaches Yū-chan has given me in the past." I was certain that somewhere a boy with green eyes and messy black hair woke up in his bed and sneezed a few times.

After my laughing fit was over, I blinked owlishly. I was getting a bit drowsy. The sun must have risen. Mika noticed it.

"I'm also getting a little tired…" Mika commented. As an incomplete vampire, he didn't need to sleep either, and also felt drowsy during the day, because both of us didn't wear or even possess UV-protective gear.

"We should go to sleep," I suggested.

"What sleep? This cursed body doesn't even need it anymore..." Mikaela mumbled.

"That's true, but it is relaxing for the the mind, isn't it?"

"..."

What did Mika have against sleeping? "Well, if you don't feel like sleeping, we can always have another chat now that we both won't avoid each other anymore," I stated wryly. "Or I could teach you the violin again, or even Russian."

"I think I would like that." Mika held the hem of his livestock-clothes as he gazed at me. He looked as if he wanted to ask something more, but didn't dare to utter the question.

"I promise that I will never leave you alone again, Mika. I'll stick annoyingly close to you if you want me to." I had no idea if that was what had been on his mind, but I meant it nonetheless.

"...I think I'll pass on the second part." But he appeared to appreciate the promise.

"Awww~. And here I thought I could make you my personal teddy bear," I pouted. "I feel the urge to hug you whenever I see you."

"Now you're scaring me, Onee-chan," Mika said but the corners of his lips curled upwards.

* * *

 ** **A/N:**** **Thank you for reading, and I hope you liked the chapter! I always appreciate reviews, follows and favourites :)**

 **1)** You've probably noticed that this Mika here is a little different than the human!Mika and teen-vampire!Mika we know from canon, simply because there isn't much known about how Mikaela behaved right after he'd lost his family and had been turned into a vampire against his will.

This is simply my interpretation how he could have been – not as cold and disinterested yet as later around anyone but his precious Yū-chan, but more emotionally unstable, lonely and unhappy. (The poor boy...)

And because he has not only Krul but also Vivian in this story, who is going through the same as him, and isn't alone amongst unfeeling vampires who he dislikes, or humans who fear him, he might turn out to be a _little_ different as a teen in my story as well, slightly more like the younger Mika.

I think not only his vampirism and own fading emotions but also the environment he has been in for four years until he reunited with Yū again are responsible for Mika's current canon personality.

 **2)** I've noticed some small mistakes in Chapter 11 concerning what sleep is like for vampires and vampire 'bedtime'... _after_ uploading the chapter and have corrected them now. I'm so sorry (๑´•ω • `๑). I have no other excuse than not getting my facts 100% straight back when I started to write this and having overlooked it when I edited it recently while being sleep-deprived. Ah, the irony. I know it doesn't really matter in the grand scheme of things, plus this is my story so I can technically write the facts however I want them, but I really wanted the vampire lore to be as close as possible to canon.

So, for those of you who don't want to re-read the previous chapter (I've only changed one or two sentences anyway) in OnS canon vampires can sleep, but don't physically need it.

This is my head canon: the bedtime for vampires like Vivian who don't wear protective gear and are consequently affected by the day (feeling a little drowsy as inherent warning system to avoid going out into the sunlight) is from sunrise to sundown though it isn't really necessary to sleep.

In the Vampire Mikaela Light Novels, OnS manga and anime, it was mentioned that vampires tend to take a break from eternity between early morning and noon at times, but meant were vamps who were wearing UV-protective gear. The vamps wearing UV-suppressing bands are not affected by the sunlight like Vivian (if their gear doesn't malfunction and makes them drowsy during the day like with Ferid in VM) but still disdain it. That's where my head canon comes from.

Of course, since time doesn't matter to them and they do not need sleep to function, they may sleep whenever they want.


	13. Tests

****Disclaimer** : **I don't own Owari no Seraph, its plot or characters, or any other mentioned books, songs, or series. They belong to their respective owners. I only own my OCs and the plot that deviates from canon or doesn't exist in canon. This is a non-profit fan fiction just for fun.

 _ **To NguyetMieu:**_ Lol, the thought of Vivian, Mika and Shinya as a family is hilarious and super cute. It would indeed totally fit with the hair and eye colours. I can see your family scenario happening in my mind xD.

 ** _To hifivebuddy :_** Vivian is 17 years old at the moment. She turned 13 two months before the apocalypse, but her friends Kaori and Akira were both 16 years old, like Shinya at that time – Vivian skipped two grades of elementary school and was a little younger when she got enrolled, so that's where the age difference comes from. I admit it can get a little confusing.

It's the year 2017 in this chapter and Shinya is currently 20 years old while Mika is turning 13 soon. When Yū joins the Moon Demon Company in December 2020 (the year should be right, but the month is my own guess because it was never said anywhere as far as I can remember, so correct me if I'm wrong), she will be 21. Shinya will be 24 at that time, having just turned that age at the end of November, and Guren will be 24 years old as well. Hope that cleared things up!

 ** _To MaelOfTheSun:_** I'm glad you think so! I try to keep Vivian's reactions and decisions as relatable and realistic as possible (though I might not always succeed with it).

 **A/N:** Thank you all so much for following, favouriting and reading my story! And my special thanks and imaginary cookies to _**NguyetMieu**_ , **_hifivebuddy_** and ** _MaelOfTheSun_** for taking the time to write a review! I really appreciate it. Here is a longer chapter because of the longer wait. Enjoy!

* * *

 **Chapter 13 – Tests**

 **At the outskirts of the Demon Army's stronghold, Shibuya, Four Years Earlier**

Makoto and Shūsaku had finally managed to arrange a secret meeting with Hiiragi Shinya through contacting Ichinose Guren, the leader of the Order of the Imperial Moon and their master. The past months had exhausted both of the young childhood friends and had brought them to their mental and physical limits.

Shortly after both of their families, their parents and some older cousins had either died from the virus or while fighting against the Order of the Imperial Demons under Hiiragi rule on the day of the apocalypse, the vampires had overrun Nagoya. Everyone who was fourteen and older and hadn't mingled with demons had been affected by the virus.

The two friends had grabbed the absolute necessities and joined a group of survivors from the Order of the Imperial Moon who were aiming to reach the Kantō region, preferably Tōkyō. Just hours after the apocalypse the message that the Hiiragi Clan had pardoned the rebelling followers of the Order of the Imperial Moon because they needed every capable fighter against the advancing vampires, who were humanity's enemy, had reached them.

Makoto and Shūsaku hated the Hiiragi Clan and its order but as the most powerful magical syndicate worldwide, they were the only ones who could offer shelter for the surviving humans that managed to make it to their headquarters in Shibuya, or to Shinjuku.

On the perilous journey north the friends had been ambushed by vampires several times and lost many people on the way to them or the Horsemen of the Apocalypse. But they'd also met and rescued three other children their age, Kagiyama Tarō, Endō Yayoi and Inoue Rika on the way, whom they then befriended.

Now that they had found a home in Shibuya, the Order of the Imperial Demon's stronghold, weren't running or fighting for their lives anymore, and things were slowly beginning to normalize themselves as much as possible under the circumstances, questions came up that they hadn't had the luxury of asking before.

Such a question was burning on the two friends' minds when they met the adoptive son of the Hiiragi family, someone they'd rather not associate with because they despised the Hiiragi, but had to do so this time out of necessity.

The Hiiragi Clan has been the leading family of the Order of the Imperial Demons for more than five centuries and it was one of the most influential magical syndicates in the world. Especially now that the Hyakuya Sect, that had been its only serious competition, had been annihilated by the vampires.

Despite the Hiiragi Clan's prominence, without hearing his family name, Makoto and Shūsaku hadn't recognized Shinya on the few occasions they had met in Vivian's presence – the two had never personally seen one of the Hiiragi. They had only found out about Shinya's identity recently, after coming to Shibuya, and had been equally angered and disappointed about the deception of Vivian's supposed best friend.

However, they soon came to know through rumours that Hiiragi Shinya was on friendly terms with their master Ichinose Guren, which was how they had gotten the idea to contact Shinya without drawing the attention of the rest of the Hiiragi Clan or its order.

Shinya was the only one who might know about the fate of their mutual friend, so even if they disliked associating with a now confirmed Hiiragi, they had to do so in order to gather information about Vivian.

The first questions that left Makoto's lips once the four of them were situated in an abandoned building at the outskirts of the Shibuya safehold were, "Where is Vivian? Do you know anything about her whereabouts or condition? I haven't seen her or heard word of her since the apocalypse."

"Is she at the base in Shinjuku, Major General Shinya?" Shūsaku threw in his own question in a more polite tone.

Shinya's expression grew unusually sombre, which made the two friends fear for the worst before the usually lighthearted snow-haired teen spoke up.

"I don't know where she is. I've searched for her around the place where she had supposedly been at last but only found her cellphone." He had agreed to this meeting because Vivian's younger friends deserved some answers. Shinya knew that the two boys were dear to his friend like younger brothers and thought that they had the right to know about her status.

"Did you search her apartment?" Shūsaku asked.

"I did. There was no one there. But I'm still visiting the place every week just in case," Shinya affirmed.

"Was there any blood on the site where you found her cellphone?" the eleven-year-old Makoto inquired, worried for his older frien– no, his _adversary_. Blood would mean that she'd been affected by the virus.

"...It's hard to tell if there were any there before, but when I conducted a search around the place a few weeks later, I didn't see any blood stains. Ah, I should probably tell you that I received a voicemail from Vivi-chan shortly after the virus outbreak. Considering that I also didn't find her body, I like to believe that she wasn't affected by the virus."

Still, there was always a small pessimistic voice at the back of Shinya's mind that said that his friend might be dead already.

Unaware of Shinya's internal doubts, Shūsaku let out a breath of relief. The news were reassuring for Makoto as well, however, something bugged him.

"What took you so long? You were here in Tōkyō with Vivian, weren't you?" he inquired. "You should have gotten to her in no time after things had calmed down a little! Why didn't you–"

"Shinya wasn't well and in the hospital himself for a long time, like the rest of our squad. Conducting a search in a shitty state could have ended deadly for all of us," Guren crossed his arms and interrupted Makoto and his accusations even though Shinya had made no move to excuse himself.

Although Makoto could understand what the Ichinose heir was saying, he couldn't help but feel anger and resentment towards Shinya. He was the person that Makoto could vent all of his cumulated ire, frustration and the despair he felt after having lost so many people that were important to him on.

"You abandoned her then!" Makoto yelled and pointed a finger at the sixteen-year-old before he could compose himself. "You abandoned your oldest friend in order to to save yourself! If I had been here in Tōkyō, I wouldn't have left Vivian behind, no matter what!"

"You're right, I did." Shinya couldn't stop his self-depreciating smile from appearing, unfortunately, a hot-tempered Makoto didn't take this gesture well. Despite the difference in height and social standing, he stomped up to the white-haired teen and grasped his collar.

"What are you smiling at, Hiiragi?! Is this a game to you?!"

"Makoto!" Shūsaku tried to haul his friend back before he did something in his temper tantrum that would end badly for all of them – attacking a Hiiragi, even an adopted one, was a serious offence – though he could understand Makoto's feelings.

However, Shūsaku also saw the logic behind Guren's words. If his squad had gone out in a less than pristine condition, there would have been no guarantee that they would all have made it back alive at that time – it had been utter chaos. It was hard enough to survive outside the newly built walls around Shibuya _without_ any injuries. Vampires and Horsemen lurked around every corner.

Vivian wouldn't have liked it if her friends had thrown their lives away for her sake. Shūsaku was aware of that and he was sure that Makoto knew it as well. But that didn't make it easier to accept the truth. Shūsaku was frustrated with his own inability and weakness; despite of all the training he had received until now he was still so very weak. Still just a powerless child.

"Quit the attitude, Narumi. I was the one who forced Shinya to stay in the hospital until he was better, so if you want to blame someone, blame me," Guren chimed in.

The eleven-year-old glared at his master, but he knew in his heart that the only thing at fault for this mess was the apocalypse itself.

He let go of Shinya's collar, but didn't lose his scowl. " _I'm_ going to go out there and _I_ will find Vivian myself!"

With that said, Makoto stormed out of the abandoned building. Shūsaku bowed in apology but quickly followed after his friend – he had a promise to keep.

Guren and Shinya were the only ones left behind. Guren observed his usually breezy friend. "You should have put the blame on me. I was the one who told you to stay in the hospital."

Shinya gave him another smile that was clearly fake, self-depreciating. Guren knew that feeling very well himself.

"Which was probably the more prudent choice, but was it also the right one? The boy had every right to criticise me, Guren. Vivi-chan was always there for me, but I wasn't there for her when she needed me the most, no matter what reasons I had for it," Shinya said.

Guren closed his eyes, feeling as if the weight of the world rested on his shoulders once again. Shinya didn't talk much about Vivian in his presence, but whenever he did, there was a certain sparkle in the other teen's eyes, that Guren recognized for what it was, because he had once seen a similar gleam in the reflection of his own eyes whenever he thought of Mahiru.

This girl Guren only knew from pictures and through his friend's tales meant more to Shinya than the adopted Hiiragi would ever admit. The urge to tell Shinya everything he knew was strong, but Guren swallowed it away. He couldn't say a word about what he was aware of if he didn't want to endanger Shinya's life. Even though it pained him, Guren didn't let it show and continued to hide everything. What was one more secret?

"You tried to save the world and prevent the apocalypse for her sake as well, didn't you? Can't be helped if you get seriously injured while you're playing hero," he said instead.

The blue-eyed teen smiled remorsefully. "All of us were in over our heads. We were fools to think that we could stop Mahiru and prevent the apocalypse. I don't even remember what exactly happened."

Guren tried not to think about the ritual space where they met Mahiru and what occurred there. "We were. But what else could we do but _try_? Anyway, your friend is probably glad that she doesn't have to see you for a while. You're annoying."

"Heh~. How mean. Vivi-chan never said that I was annoying."

Guren snorted. "Well, if she can stand that annoying face and attitude of yours, then I'm sure she'll forgive you for showing up a little late, too. Sooner or later we'll find her. Together." Privately he thought, _'But she'll never forgive me.'_ Guren pushed himself away from the wall he had leaned on and left before he let anything slip, or Shinya detected a hint of guilt displayed on his face.

Shinya was Guren's friend, his family, that Guren would protect no matter what, even if it meant sacrificing the freedom and health of his friend's crush for an uncertain amount of time.

At the moment they couldn't do anything about her situation, and telling Shinya and the others about her whereabouts would just endanger all of them because Guren knew that his friends would immediately try to rescue her.

But they couldn't afford to get on the Hiiragi's bad side again, like the few days before the apocalypse where they had been hunted down for betraying them. Guren's squad had only been pardoned by the Hiiragi because they were useful. In this new world, where the vampires had finally crawled out of their underground kingdom and Horsemen of the Apocalypse were roaming the earth, being on the run from the Japanese Imperial Demon Army was even more dangerous than before.

Guren had to go about this in a clever way. Unfortunately, that meant that it would take him a while to get the girl out of the Imperial Demon Army's clutches. He would continue to ensure the safety of his chosen family, even if he would later be hated by Shinya for his deeds and deception, even if he would be hated by the whole world for it. It was another sin that he had to shoulder.

"Ahaha, are you trying to cheer me up?" Shinya's laugh sounded hollow. "Aren't you a nice friend, Guren~? But you know that I don't believe in miracles... We were unable to save Mahiru, too."

"Shut up and don't be such a pessimist. Vivian isn't Mahiru. Would your friend give up on you if your places were reversed?"

An unusually soft expression flit across Shinya's face. "No, never."

With renewed determination Shinya followed Guren out of the building, unaware what dark secrets lurked in his friend's heart.

* * *

 **Krul's Palace, Sanguinem, March 2017**

Around sundown I awoke and was unable to sleep any longer. I couldn't sleep for more than a few hours at a time, no matter how hard I tried.

After I had stowed away the pillow and blanket – it was actually just the lining of the coffin that I had simply ripped out of the thing – I sat down at the wooden desktop and looked at the pictures and Shinya's message in my locket, wondering what my friends were doing. It had become a habit. I hoped Shinya, Mako-chan and Shū were alright wherever they were.

My thoughts were interrupted by a knock.

"Good morning, Mika," I greeted the boy with a smile when he entered my room. He was already presentable, but I still needed to change out of my nightgown.

"It's evening, Vivi-nee." His hair was in a slight disarray, which looked adorable, especially that one strand of hair which always seemed to defy gravity. I had to fight the urge to hug him again because he was so cute. Was I developing a younger brother complex? Yes, without a doubt I was. Somehow I was really prone to it.

"True." I noticed something else. "Say, Mika, why do you still wear the livestock uniform?" I asked him when I opened the curtains to let in the dim light of the city.

Not that it made a difference in my eyes – even without light I saw my surroundings as if it were midday, which made it even harder to fall asleep. The lanterns in the streets of Sanguinem changed their colour over the course of the day to emulate daylight. However, the enhanced hearing gave me the most trouble with falling asleep.

Absent-mindedly I retrieved a dress from the dresser, that loosely resembled a Roman robe and began to braid my hair.

"…" There was no answer from Mika. When I turned around to him, he avoided my questioning gaze.

"You know, I would really like to see you in nice clothes some time. I bet you would look adorable in a dress shirt~. Ah, but you don't have to change out of your uniform if you don't want to," I added quickly, not wanting to pressure him.

"I have been contemplating it for a while. Krul always tells me I should stop wearing this uniform because I'm not a human anymore. It's already been over four months…" He had been a vampire for over a month when I showed up here in Sanguinem in January.

The boy hadn't accepted what he was now yet. Not that I could talk.

Mika remained silent for a few moments and stared at the floor. "I'll wait until you're ready, Vivi-nee."

I was genuinely surprised and pleased that he'd called me 'sister' again. "Alright, I'll be quick."

After emerging from the bathroom, I put on shoes and was ready to go. Someone had deposited a wine, or rather, blood bottle and glass on a serving table outside my room in the meantime. My new, permanent food source. Just seeing the blood made me swallow on reflex. I really wanted it, but knew that I had to refrain from drinking it for at least one more day. I only had some blood yesterday, after all, and should exercise some self-restraint – two, or even three days without blood should be possible.

I stored the bottle in my small personal fridge and left together with Mika. The time at which Krul had demanded our presence was approaching.

* * *

"Ah, Vivian, Mikaela, there you are," Krul greeted us from her throne.

However, we were not the only people in the room. The vampire noble Ferid Bathory was standing right next to us and was eyeing us with gleeful interest.

Without a doubt I had to learn how to sense certain vampires better. I concentrated on his scent, so I would be able to recognize it the next time. Most of the time I tried to ignore the smells when I travelled through the corridors because they were distracting.

"Aha~. So it's true that you quit being human and became one of us, my dear Vivi-chan. How wonderful it is that your youthful beauty will be preserved forever now~," the silver-haired vampire complimented me with a grin.

The urge to cringe at his words was strong, and I didn't appreciate the reminder that I was stuck looking like a seventeen-year-old for all eternity. "...Hello, Lord Bathory," I greeted the progenitor politely, and did my best not to react to his remark. Mika frowned slightly.

"Ah, Mika-kun, you should hurry up and drink some human blood just like Vivi-chan here to stop ageing. I think you're at the best age right now~!"

Yikes. "I'll pass," Mika said coldly.

"That's too bad." Ferid turned to me again, "Actually, I was just talking with dearest Krul about you because I wanted to have a little chat with you, and found out about your upcoming skill evaluation, Vivi-chan. Naturally, I absolutely have to see it~!"

Not very eager to be in the company of Ferid, I directed my impassive gaze back at Krul and waited for her answer. I disliked that the Seventh Progenitor was here or that he might oversee my test, but I couldn't avoid him forever.

At least this time it was easier to put on my poker face in front of him. Having no heartbeat was convenient in this situation, as well as the fact that Krul was here with us and she was stronger than Ferid. I didn't have to fear for my life this time.

"You can watch, Ferid Bathory, as long as you remember that Vivian is _mine_ ," Krul declared. I didn't like to be called anyone's possession, but if I had to decide, having Krul as my 'owner' was definitely the better choice.

"I would never even think of snatching her away," Ferid answered with another grin and a dangerous gleam in his eyes.

I didn't want to know what he had in store for me. Even if it was doubtful that I could ever hold a candle to him, I had to train a lot harder so he wouldn't be able to touch a single strand of hair on Mika or me – I was probably nowhere near the level of the Seventh Progenitor, nor would I ever be as far as I knew.

Two more vampires entered the Royal Audience Chamber next. One of them was René. Of course it had to be him of all people! I remained inexpressive even though my scumbag brain sent me a flashback of the compromising… situation… René had witnessed over a month ago. Again. I thought I was over it by now, but no, every time he'd come to escort me in the past weeks, I remembered the incident with perfect clarity.

This time, however, René wasn't just wearing his own sword at his belt like usual, but also carried another sheathed sword in his left hand.

The unknown vampire mustered Mika and me with a faintly curious expression on his pale face, that was framed by two strands of silver-blond hair on each side. The rest of it was neatly combed-back.

He was tall and lithe, and looked to have been in his late twenties when he became a vampire and stopped ageing. Like all of the vampires I'd seen so far he was handsome but his crimson eyes lacked any spark of life.

He seemed to be a noble, judging from his white dress shirt, green waistcoat, and white jabot that wasn't part of the city guard uniform. Was he going to be my teacher?

"Vivian, this is Eleventh Progenitor Niall O'Connor, one of the nobles of my – _our_ – faction," Krul introduced me. I greeted him politely and he returned the greeting in a similar fashion.

"It is my pleasure to meet Queen Krul's progeny. I am honoured to be the one to assess your capabilities, Lady Vivian." Niall seemed to mean every word.

But as his words registered in my mind I turned to look at Krul in shock. I should fight an Eleventh Progenitor? Me, the newly-turned vampire?

"Queen Krul," I addressed her, "Isn't fighting Lord O'Connor far beyond my skills?"

The small vampire smiled lightly. "A vampire's strength is primarily determined by the quality of blood they have received, Vivian. And you have drunk my, a Third Progenitor's, blood to become a vampire, which gave you a power that should make you able to match or surpass Niall's. It depends on your own talents and capabilities whether you can adequately use that power to defeat him."

Okay... So that was how it worked? Still, I couldn't entirely believe that I was capable of fighting the Eleventh Progenitor or any progenitor at all. Lacus had already been impossibly fast when I was still human, and he didn't have a rank as far as I knew.

"Maybe Vivi-chan doesn't feel up to the task?" Ferid commented.

The mocking tone in his voice pissed me off. "No, I'll do it," I said before I could stop myself. Maybe I would regret this and get my ass handed to me, but my competitive streak made me want to try it before I gave up. Mika looked a little worried but didn't say anything.

"Good. Then it is time to go to the testing grounds. Follow me." Krul led us down a corridor I didn't recognize, which was no surprise as I hadn't gotten around much despite having the permission to explore the place. We left the palace and passed through an arched stone corridor that led to another building.

It didn't take me long to figure out what it was. There was a very spacious, circular area in the middle that was lined with seats. It was an arena, a colosseum. Why was something like this down here in Sanguinem? Did vampires compete against each other in public for some reason?

Krul seated herself on another throne while Ferid and Mika sat down in the seats next to her, the blond farther away from Ferid. Only now as I entered the arena I became aware of what I had chosen to wear and internally cursed my own stupidity for wearing a dress today of all days. How could my subconsciousness be so dumb?! I had to get a grip on myself.

"I want to see how you fare in fight while utilising all of your combat skills," Krul said to me.

"Will we be witnessing anything _spectacular_ today, my queen?" Ferid asked and I dearly hoped that he wasn't referring to my wings or the strange power of opening a portal to the World of Death.

Was the silver-haired pervert suspecting something because I had almost slipped up and summoned them that one time when he'd carried me to my room? Or had he heard rumours about the state I'd been in when I entered Krul's palace? That was definitely not good. It was one more thing he could blackmail Krul _and_ me with.

I exchanged a quick look with her in a silent conversation. "I'm not sure what you are expecting. Vivian is simply being tested on her abilities today," she answered matter-of-factly.

Ferid merely smiled at her words. "Heh~, is that so? You know, I've heard some interesting rumours going round in Sanguinem. They say that a monster with wings entered the city. I wonder what happened to it~?"

Shit. So he had indeed heard about it. I didn't react outwardly when his gaze stayed on me though I was angered to be called a monster by him of all people. Mika remained silent as well and with a poker face in place.

"I am certain Queen Krul has already taken care of it if there was such a creature here, Lord Ferid," Niall commented.

René didn't react apart from glancing at me from the corner of his eyes; he was one of the few vampires who knew that I was not just a child from Sanguinem that had caught the queen's interest like everyone has been led to believe. Krul had even fabricated a human, or rather, livestock account for me to make my fake story more believable.

"You shouldn't believe everything you hear, Ferid Bathory," Krul told him. "Now, let's end this tedious conversation and let us begin with the evaluation. René."

"..." Ferid remained silent but gave us another smile that unnerved me.

"Yes, your majesty." René, who had went down into the arena with me and Niall, gave me the sword he'd brought.

A western sword... I had never fought with a real sword before, much less a western one, and Krul was aware of it. Was this another test of hers to see how adaptable I was? I removed the feather-light sword from the sheath and gripped it like I was used to from kendō though it was a little broader than a wooden sword or katana. The blade looked to be made out of glass.

Then I took my stance and faced Niall, feeling my nerves a little because of my spectators and because I was facing a certainly very competent opponent. At the same time I was excited, almost giddy at the prospect of a good fight; I realised I had missed this. Niall had waited patiently for me before he drew his own sword. A real gentleman, huh.

At Krul's word, we jumped into action, or rather, Niall did. I wanted to stay on the defence until I had seen some of his techniques and fighting style if I could. The Eleventh Progenitor was incredibly fast, but I managed to block him just in time. I had seen his every move...

The force behind the strike was nothing I'd ever experienced before, and I had to use every muscle in my body to hold myself in place as our swords clashed. The ground beneath my feet cracked from the impact but I was completely fine, which was crazy. It seemed vampires were not only stronger but also more resilient than humans.

I was able to withstand Niall's power and narrowed my eyes as I pushed against the progenitor's sword. I was more than astounded that I could truly match him. Was this the result of drinking Krul's blood?

However, Niall didn't waste more time to attack a second and third time. With each blow he seemed to get stronger and faster, so I had to push myself to my limits, or what I had thought were my limits, to keep up with him.

But I never reached them. On the contrary – I felt as if I could go even faster, use even more power to block or attack him. Still, I struggled because I was out of practise, the sword didn't feel right in my hold, and Niall was clearly a master swordsman. I almost lost my hold on the sword a few times because of the moves he made.

The Eleventh Progenitor cut me here and there – only minor injuries – while I was still getting accustomed to his fighting style and didn't block him right, but I barely felt them before they were healed again. This was what vampire healing was like, huh? It was truly superfast.

The fight continued on and on while we whirled around each other at an impossible speed. Wind from the power behind Niall's slashes blew furiously through the arena and damaged the ground, or made small cuts in my clothes or skin, while blocking one of his attacks made the ground crumble beneath my feet or send me a few metres back.

Slowly, I began to get a feel for the other vampire's techniques and my own physical capabilities as well as the sword in my hands. While I was studying the way he wielded his sword, I was also paying attention to Niall's impeccable footwork, and I noted that he rarely attacked me with anything but a blow of his sword. He was a very fair and honourable fighter.

This seemed to be the extent of his physical power, though. I wondered whether I was able to overpower him once I went into the offence. There was only one way to find out.

While I ducked to evade one of his strikes, I struck my foot out and hooked it behind one of Niall's before I tugged with full force. He didn't fall for long before he caught himself, but for the quarter of a second he was surprised and lost his balance. That was my opening. My sword shot out and passed his defence, but merely cut his left upper arm.

It seemed to baffle the other vampire, though. However, I didn't leave him any time to recover, brought my sword down on him again, which he blocked like planned – I was very close to him now. I held onto the sword with my right, but used my left hand to push against his chest in a quick move with all the power I had.

Niall was thrown backwards and stumbled, but caught himself; still, it was too late because I was already upon him. I smirked as I attacked Niall left and right with my sword and mixed in some kicks and punches as well as moves I'd just copied from him.

He might be a master swordsman, but he was lacking in the subterfuge department, considering what I'd seen of him so far. And Shinya had taught me _a lot_ about that.

This time I was the one who was getting faster and put more power behind each of my blows, as much as I could. Niall did his best, but soon it became clear that he was unable to keep up with me strength and speed-wise. Like Krul had said, I was truly able to overpower him.

It was quite fun to see the Eleventh Progenitor looking a little ruffled. Niall barely escaped a strike at his neck but got caught by my roundhouse kick that followed immediately afterwards. It was one of my favourite moves and sent the progenitor straight into a wall.

"Well, _that_ certainly looked intriguing~. Your progeny seems to take after you, my dear queen, though she has a meaner streak," Ferid joked and I glared at him as soon as I realized that he might not be talking solely about my roundhouse kick. In the heat of the battle I had forgotten just what I had foolishly clothed myself in.

My dress went almost down to my shins, but just a moment ago the skirt had been lifted because of my kick. There was no telling how much the silver-haired vampire had seen. Curse my own short-sightedness for choosing to wear a dress today of all days! And curse Ferid for coming to watch my test!

"Be quiet, Ferid Bathory," Krul admonished him. I mentally applauded her before I concentrated on my opponent again. I shouldn't have let myself get distracted by Ferid. It was a foolish beginner's mistake.

Niall had crashed into the wall of the arena, several meters away, and there was an impact crater in it from the force I had kicked him with. How strong did I have to be to be able to do that? As if bending door handles out of form wasn't enough. This superhuman strength was not only impressive but also kind of scary.

Wasting no more time, I dashed up to the vampire noble just when he jumped out of the small crater. His outfit looked a little worse for wear but otherwise Niall was fine, aside from his neck that he put back in place.

A human would have definitely died on impact. The progenitor wasn't able to bring his sword up in time when I went for his wrists to slap the weapon out of his hands, momentarily forgetting that I was wielding a real sword.

Of course, the sharp blade sliced right through Niall's wrists. Black blood spurted out of the two stumps and signalled the slightly disturbing and prompt end of the fight. The sight and smell of the progenitor's blood wasn't as enticing as human blood but still managed to catch my attention for a moment.

I had just crippled someone, but I wasn't feeling as perturbed as I should be when I pointed the tip of my sword at his neck. Still, I apologized. "I'm sorry, Lord O'Connor. Are you alright?" His injuries must hurt a lot... Or did they? Thanks to the fast healing I didn't feel any of mine anymore, but I also hadn't lost a limb, or two.

He gave me an unconcerned but polite answer. "These injuries are of no importance, milady. This was a fight to gauge your strength, after all, so I'm glad that I could be of assistance. But I might need a hand to reattach my limbs."

"Of course!" I immediately lowered my sword and rammed it into the ground before I picked up Niall's hands and pressed the wrists to the stumps of his arms. It was baffling to watch how the two ends mended together instantly. A moment later the progenitor could move his hands again as if I had never cut them off in the first place.

"I believe that was enough of an evaluation," Krul commented from her throne.

The Eleventh Progenitor turned to me. "Even though your fighting style was mildly... discourteous, I am certain that with the right guidance your skills in swordplay will improve quickly, Lady Vivian."

Well, Krul had wanted me to show her _all_ of my battle skills today. A few dirty techniques included. I didn't even use all of the moves Shinya had taught me.

"Indeed," Krul agreed. "Niall, I believe you are well-suited for the job."

The Eleventh Progenitor bowed to her. "It would be a great honour to instruct Lady Vivian, my queen."

I guessed there could be worse things than to be taught by Niall; he seemed friendly enough, even if he was a little too prim and proper for my tastes. However, I'd rather have someone like him as a teacher than the likes of Ferid, and as I'd confirmed myself, he was truly a very capable swordsman. If not for my advantage in power, Niall would have wiped the floor with me. I could surely learn a lot from him.

Krul then turned to the city guard who had remained silent like Mika. "René, you will be responsible for teaching Vivian all of the basic skills she will need when she joins my army in a few months. Make her familiar with the City Guard, our technology, and how we operate starting from tomorrow."

"Yes, your majesty," René bowed slightly and I smiled a little. All in all, I was quite satisfied with Krul's choice of my teachers. René was a calm and civil vampire... most of the time. He could also really dish out as I've experienced once or twice.

"Aww, but I would have been a great teacher, too, Krul," the Ferid protested playfully.

Krul narrowed her eyes at him. "I have told you earlier that I already have teachers for Vivian." Thank every deity there was for that.

The Seventh Progenitor sighed dramatically. "That's too bad."

It was decided that Niall would train me from 1 p.m. to 8 p.m. every day and René would teach me from 9 p.m. to 2 a.m. every night. The rest of the time I could spent however I wanted. I was still not allowed to go to the surface, though.

"That was all for today. You have my permission to enter Sanguinem now, Vivian." Krul stood up from her seat.

"Thank you!" I replied with a bright smile. At least that was possible now – I was more than ready to explore Sanguinem. There was a slight upwards curl to her lips before she turned around and left, Niall and René following her after the former had told me to meet him in the arena again tomorrow. René would wait for me in front of the City Headquarters afterwards.

Ferid and Mika joined me in the arena. Sadly, the pervert hadn't left, so we were now stuck with him though Mika and I came to the wordless agreement to leave immediately.

"It was really cute how you showed concern for the well-being of a fellow vampire even if it was completely unnecessary, my dear," Ferid said from behind us, which we ignored, but he didn't stop talking.

"It's a shame that I won't be your teacher, but maybe I could demonstrate right now how vampire healing works with larger injuries to give you a better understanding of it? It's my duty as an elder to guide you after all."

Mika and I sped up our pace, not liking where Ferid's thoughts were going.

"Hmm~, but Mika-kun already has some experience with something trivial like losing an arm or getting stabbed in the chest. How can I make this educational?" Ferid mused. "Ah! I have an idea~!"

There was a moment of intense pain in my neck area before I couldn't feel my body anymore. All sensations from my neck down had disappeared from one second to the next. However, I could feel hands around my head, and Mika was looking at me with a mildly horrified expression.

"Vivi-nee!"

Why was he suddenly so far away from me? And why was I getting so thirsty? Why couldn't I feel my body?

There was a numb pressure on my scalp as if someone was tugging my hair, and suddenly I was higher up and face to face with Ferid, who had a sinister smile on his face.

"You appear quite confused my dear, so let me clear things up for you~." He turned me back around to face Mika, who was kneeling on the ground next to... a headless body. I could see the bone and torn apart flesh and muscles, the dark blood that was dripping from the open neck.

With this gory sight right in front of me, I should definitely feel ill, but I didn't. I wasn't able to feel sick or nauseous anymore – I could only feel the terrible thirst that increased with every passing second.

The body wore a familiar dress which was torn and cut in a few places and stained with blood along the cuts, too. It was _my_ body – I could not only see it, but was also able to sense it. And I was... I was...

"That is your body over there – I'm just holding your pretty little head," Ferid caressed my cheek with his free hand. "Isn't it amazing that a vampire can even survive something like this~?"

What the hell?! Was he being serious? He had _beheaded_ me to show me how resilient vampires were?! I didn't want to know this at all!

"Let go of her, you bastard!" Mika growled, but Ferid merely cradled my head as if this was a game to him.

"Aww, but I enjoy having Vivi-chan close to me~. I've missed her~," Ferid stroked my hair, playing with the long braid. "Doesn't this remind you of someone else, Mika-kun?"

This perverted asshole only missed messing with Mika and me...! And he even brought up that girl with a braid I vaguely remembered from the series. One of the Hyakuya orphans, Mika's family, who had been killed by Ferid.

Hadn't she been beheaded as well? Did Ferid want Mika to relive her death through me? Anger welled up in me at the thought. Ferid was truly a sick, sadistic bastard.

"Could you please return me to... my body, Lord Bathory?" I was surprised that I could still talk, and tried to sound as impassive as possible in this absurd situation. Showing Ferid any distress or fear would only amuse him more. "I think I've learned enough for today."

He made me face him again. This evil creep! "Hmm... Is that so? I bet you must already be starving by now. Are you hungry for human blood, my dear?"

The other vampire was patiently waiting for an answer from me.

More of my blood dropped from my severed head onto the ground. "...Yes," I confessed grudgingly after a while, feeling ashamed for admitting it to him and in front of Mika.

Ferid smiled in response. "Oh no~. We can't have that, can we? We wouldn't want you to turn into a demon! Alright, this shall be enough for today. Catch, Mika-kun~!"

The Seventh Progenitor threw me carelessly through the air, making the world spin around me. If I was still human, I would definitely puke right now. Or rather, I would be dead in this condition. But as a vampire I merely felt dizzy, and the painful thirst, that grew the more blood I lost, dominated any other sensation.

Mika managed to catch me though it was a quite uncomfortable landing. Blood was pouring from my open neck and the thirst was becoming worse, but the boy didn't waste a second to reattach my head to my shoulders. It tingled a little as the flesh and bone mended itself together in a matter of seconds. It was a strange feeling.

As soon as I could feel my body again, I also felt the craving for blood even more acutely. It was painful, so very painful. My body demanded for the red liquid to make up for the loss, and I almost quivered in want for it. _'Blood. Blood! Not enough blood! I need to drink blood!'_ the demand repeated in my head when I sat up.

"Vivi-nee, are you alright?" Mika asked me, worry displayed on his face. His clothes and hands were stained with my dank, black blood from catching me.

"...More or less," I answered as I rubbed over my mended neck and glanced warily at the silver-haired vampire who was still watching us with that sickening smirk. Now just the leftover blood on the ground that also stained my neck and dress indicated that I had been headless seconds ago.

"See, everything is fine! I hope you enjoyed my lesson about vampire healing, my little newborn vampires~! Am I not a great help~?" Ferid chirped, sounding very satisfied with himself.

I wanted to cut him into pieces, or run, or both. Judging from Mika's glare, he wanted to do something similar to him. I didn't dare to say anything in response, because what would leave my mouth wouldn't be very nice. Angering a vampire noble who had just demonstrated how much stronger he was and how easily he could kill me started up my survival instincts.

Mika's blue gaze then met my red one. "Let's go, Vivi-nee."

I nodded in agreement and we hurried to get out of there and away from Ferid.

"How cold to just leave me standing here all alone without even thanking me~!" the silver-haired vampire yelled after us but received no answer.

"How do you feel?" Mika asked me on the way to our rooms once Ferid was out of earshot and out of our sight.

"A little shaken and rather thirsty. That was a very uncomfortable experience." To say the least.

"I bet..." Mikaela changed the topic, which I was grateful for, "But I have to say that you were really scary earlier, Vivi-nee. I hope I'll never have to fight against you."

Was that a compliment? "Thanks? If you want, I could teach you a few moves in the future."

"Hmm. I'll think about it."

Back in my room my eyes immediately went to the mini-fridge, that contained the bottle of blood. Mika made the connection as he followed my gaze.

A sad understanding shone in his sky-blue eyes. "I'm sorry that I couldn't protect you from Ferid."

I shook my head and tried to give him an encouraging smile. "It's fine. Protecting me is not your responsibility. I'm older than you so _I_ should be the one to protect myself and you".

Mika still looked guilty and haunted. Ferid must have succeeded with reminding him of his family again.

"...I'll let you be." Mika was about to leave my room, but I quickly held him back by his arm and engulfed him in a hug. We both were stained with my blood anyway and needed a change of clothes, so it didn't matter if I got more of my blood on him.

"Thank you for helping me and for accompanying me to my test, Mika."

"...You're welcome." He returned the hug for a moment before he left the room in fast strides.

I should definitely check on him later. A sad sigh escaped me but I was glad that he was out of the room and couldn't see me hungrily swallowing the blood directly from the bottle in the next minute. My thirst was only satisfied after I had drunk all of the remaining blood from the one litre bottle. After having devoured it, I felt invigorated again.

Of course, no power was without a price.

* * *

A few minutes later I had cleaned myself up in the shower and had changed into a white shirt with a ruffled collar and sleeves, and a black ribbon around the collar. And pants. I was done with dresses for the moment.

After blow-drying my hair for an eternity – I should have insisted harder to cut it down to shoulder length because I was now stuck with annoyingly long hair forever – I emerged from my bathroom, only to find Ferid Bathory sitting on my sofa as if he owned it. His clothes were still stained with my blood.

"Surprise~!" he chirped and waved at me with an infuriating grin. "I've sneaked into your room~."

My mental defence went up and I tensed. I had had enough of him for a day! Why was he here again?

Unfortunately, Ferid wasn't done with me, it seemed. He had said earlier that he wanted to talk with me. The progenitor was holding up the empty blood bottle and eyed it as if it were the most interesting thing in the world.

"Already empty… This bottle should have lasted a few days at least. Or was the thirst too strong to resist drinking all of the blood at once, my dear Vivian?" Ferid mused, but I remained silent and willed my body to relax despite my growing irritation. He should know best why I had been so thirsty!

His eyes fell on me and a smile slowly spread over his face, that made me even more uncomfortable. "You know, I'm slightly disappointed that you didn't consider my offer…"

"I'm no one's plaything," I stated though the other vampire had toyed with me earlier and was playing with me again right at this moment.

Ferid lifted a brow. "Oh, but you are. Krul is using you for her own plans. If you had joined my faction, I would have taken good care of you _and_ the human friends you are searching for. We would have had so much fun together~!"

...How did he even know that?! I did my best not to show him that I was concerned or feeling intimidated by him. Krul had said that nobody aside from her or Mika knew my friends' names. I didn't even dare to think their names in Ferid's presence.

"Wouldn't you use me for unknown plots, too, Lord Bathory? What makes you think that I didn't know Krul would use me for her plans? It was pretty obvious that no vampire would have saved a dying girl out of the goodness of their heart. I made my choice knowing that I would become Krul's pawn. I may be young compared to you all, but I'm not _that_ naïve."

Tense and wary I sat down on the sofa opposite to him, ignoring that he was patting the cushion right next to him to invite me to sit there.

"Oh my. You see getting turned into a monster that can even survive a beheading as being saved? That's precisely what I call naïve, my dear." Ferid smiled.

"Let me tell you from senpai to kōhai that some time in the future when you've experienced the maddening boredom and meaninglessness of an immortal life, and the despair of being unable to die, you will wish that you had died here as a human. You will curse yourself for choosing to become a vampire and will curse Krul who has doomed you to eternal suffering with her blood as well."

Shit, I hadn't wanted to tell him that I'd had a choice, but it had somehow slipped out. And maybe I would feel like that one day, but until then I still had a lot of reasons to live, in whatever form. Ferid was an expert about vampire life, but I knew what dying was like and wasn't opposed to postpone it a little this time.

Plus, once my human friends were dead, I could let myself get killed by a demon weapon... if the Japanese Imperial Demon Army still existed until then. Otherwise, I'd have to ask another vampire to do the deed.

My only reason not to do so was Mika – it depended on him what I would do in hopefully eighty years from now. If Mika wanted to continue living once Yū was dead, I would stay by his side like I'd promised and figure things out from there. It was still far away in the future.

"Are you speaking from personal experience, Lord Bathory? Did you curse the one who turned you into a vampire?" I inquired.

His expression told me nothing. "It is just a generalization. Have I made you interested in me, my dear?"

It would be a lie if I said no. He was an enigmatic person and I had no idea why he was doing the things he was doing. It would be useful if I gained a better understanding of him, no matter how much I despised him. That way I could predict him better.

"...A little."

"Aha~," Ferid smiled again. "It makes me happy to hear that, Vivi-chan~." Yeah, I doubted that. "How about you tell me your story and then I'll tell you mine? Mine is reeeeeally long compared to yours, after all."

So that was what he wanted? Gathering more information about me because I was an unknown factor? "I don't want to talk about my past," I declined his offer.

"Aww, that's too bad. If you ever change your mind, you can come and visit me in my mansion at any time – I love surprises." Ferid's eyes gleamed. I wanted anything _but_ to spend more time with him. He had just decapitated me for shits and giggles an hour ago!

"By the way, my dear, I wonder what your human friends will think about you once they know that you willingly became an enemy of humanity that takes pleasure in drinking human blood?" He glanced at the empty bottle.

Ferid was really good at finding my weak points – I had to fight the flinch.

An icy smile was my response. "I know that I'll have to deal with the consequences of my decisions in the future. I can't change anything about that, and it would be wasted time if I fretted over such things all the time, don't you think, Lord Bathory?"

I had already beaten myself up enough about that in the past month, and had made up my mind to stop doing it after my talk with Mika yesterday.

"How very pragmatic of you. Did you choose to become a vampire to escape death in order to be with your friends again?" he had caught right on. Ferid was a bastard, but he was a clever bastard.

"What if I did? Is that wrong?" I crossed my arms over my chest in defiance.

Ferid smiled widely. "No. In fact, I think it's _precious_ and so very _human_ to desperately cling to a hope, no matter how small, and grasp greedily for any opportunity to fulfil your desires. I wonder how long you will be able to hold onto this piece of humanity, my dear ex-human. Can you already feel your emotions atrophying?"

His words were like a knife that cut into my soul. Since I had woken up as a vampire my emotions have been weaker than before – with exception of my affectionate feelings towards my human friends and Mika, as well as my fondness of Krul. They were as strong as ever. All my other emotions have begun to fade day by day, little by little.

I didn't want to tell Ferid about it, though. Silence was my answer.

The Seventh Progenitor grinned. Would he never lose that stupid grin? "Maybe I should visit you more often. I've really enjoyed our little chat today and your _display_ earlier. Especially in that dress~."

Wah! Why was I more of a 'kick' than 'punch' person? It was very likely that Ferid had seen parts of my underwear in that fight against Niall.

"I'm never wearing a dress ever again…" I mumbled more to myself and made a disgusted face before I could stop myself.

Of course, it didn't escape the perverted vampire's notice. "Then you should be delighted to hear that the city guard uniform for females that you'll have to wear soon consists of a long black _dress_. I can't wait to see you in it, my dear~."

The hell I would wear that! I had done what Krul wanted and sucked blood for over a month directly from kids – although that was my fault, because of my request – but I would not wear a dress to fight in! Should I flash the enemies with my underwear, or what was Krul thinking, or whoever had designed the uniform?

Ferid apparently had his fair share of fun at my display of displeasure because there was once more a huge smile on his face.

"Aha~, how I love young vampires and their interesting reactions. Hold onto these emotions for as long as you can, young Vivian. It's a shame that I have to go so soon, but I promise we'll meet again," he said as he got up in a graceful manner.

That promise was completely unwanted and unnecessary.

"A good day, Lord Bathory," I said goodbye at the door and hoped that he would get run over by a truck though it was a futile hope considering the state of the world. Plus vampire resilience.

"Call me 'Lord Ferid', my dear. 'Lord Bathory' sounds so _distant._ " That was exactly the reason why I had called him by his last name.

"Alright... Lord Ferid." My eye twitched. I wished I could strangle him. Apart from fear, discomfort and weariness, it seemed that the silver-haired menace was also able to bring out my more violent side.

"I'll see you soon, Vivi-chan~!" Ferid smiled cheerily and waved with one hand as he strutted away in a sassy manner. He would fit right in at a Parisian fashion show if he wasn't a sadistic vampire who took pleasure in mentally torturing people and slaughtering children.

I cooled down for a minute, still not believing that I had had a conversation with Ferid Bathory that hadn't ended in bloodshed.

Well, maybe he had already met his daily quota of mindfuckery and bloodshed earlier by beheading me.

A sigh escaped me. What is my life?

* * *

 **A/N: I hope you've enjoyed the chapter! I would love to get some feedback! Your reviews really motivate me to write** ** **:D****

 **1)** Concerning vampire strength: I've read in a Q&A with Kagami-sensei that a vampire's natural strength is determined by whose blood they've drunk to get turned into one, and that they don't get weaker or stronger after that, except for their own skills that they can train. Naturally, if there are two vampires of the same rank but one of them has been a vampire for a hundred years longer, the one who is older will probably be stronger (if they haven't been lazing around) because they had a hundred more years to train and have more experience. This also matches what we learned in the Vampire Mikaela Light Novels about Ferid and Crowley's strength level – I don't want to reveal everything just yet if you haven't read it yet, so I'm remaining vague for the moment xD.

 **2)** As for the ranking... Ferid, who is a Seventh Progenitor, has been turned by a second progenitor – a difference of five ranks. Then we have Crowley, a Thirteenth Progenitor who has supposedly been turned by Ferid, and there is a difference of six ranks between them. Krul is a Third Progenitor, closer to a second progenitor, consequently there should be a difference of five or six ranks between her and Mika and Vivian.

The progenitor ranking system in OnS hasn't been properly explained until now, though Crowley dropped a few hints here and there, so I'm just going with guesses I've made from the few mentions of it in the manga and light novels. Taking Crowley and his true rank as an example, I assume that Mika and Vivian have the potential to be Eighth or Ninth Progenitors. So, they should be able to defeat an Eleventh Progenitor in a fight while a Tenth Progenitor could be more of a challenge if they are caught off-guard and are less battle proficient than their opponent. Ferid however is too strong for them.


	14. Sanguinem

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Owari no Seraph, its plot or characters, or any other mentioned books, songs, or series. They belong to their respective owners. I only own my OCs and the plot that deviates from canon or doesn't exist in canon. This is a non-profit fan fiction just for fun.

 _ **To eragon95159:**_ Yep, Crowley is stronger than the progenitor rank he holds, but he isn't stronger than the progenitor who turned him (or rather, whose blood was used by Ferid to turn Crowley).

 _ **To NguyetMieu:**_ Somewhat xD Yes, yes, Guren is definitely involved in something shady. I'm glad you liked Makoto and Shūsaku's reactions as well as the test – that was a scene I've rewritten countless times because I wasn't satisfied with it – I'm also happy to hear that you were as suprised by the beheading scene as Vivian was. Haha. Ferid just likes to mess with people. Barging into Vivian's bathroom while she was showering would have been the cherry on top... Well, I can tell you that this wasn't the last time that Ferid is being a creep around Vivian.

Yeah, there were a lot of _Catastrophe at Sixteen_ references in Chapter 13, but I hope I explained everything well enough for those who haven't read the light novel...? Oh well. It's not that important for the plot of my story. I just wanted to give a small insight into the ONS-World and the Japanese Imperial Demon Army etc. in general.

 _ **To my guest reviewer from July 2:**_ Yeah, I know that there's a wiki and I do use it for this fic, but it doesn't always contain all of the information I need. Some of the things I've written about in the previous chapter have never been properly explained anywhere for example, so I needed to make my own guesses based on what I've read on the wiki and in the light novels and manga. But thank you for your advice :)

 _ **To hifivebuddy:**_ She's been in some deep shit ever since the apocalypse :D Trusting Ferid... should these two words ever be mentioned in one sentence xD? Oh yes, Vivian can't really deal with him, but who even can? Even the other high-ranking progenitors don't know what to do with him. Lol.

And you're right, everything has a cost and some of Vivian's friends might not appreciate her choices and what she has turned into. We'll find out in the future what their reactions are~.

 _ **To Jonh137:**_ Thank you! Hm, I think Vivian is already pro-vampire? She's definitely not on the human, the JIDA's side. It might not seem that way yet because she still retains bits and pieces of her humanity and values, and has human friends she doesn't want to disappoint more than she already has. As the plot continues, though, things will change little by little.

 **A/N:** Life is very stressful at the moment, so I apologize that I'm unable to update any quicker than this. In addition, I have to rewrite a lot of scenes or entire chapters because I don't like them anymore, so the updates might take a little longer than a month from now on.

On another note... there are over 100 follows and almost as many favourites for this story, wow! Thank you, guys! I'm glad you enjoy _Between Two Worlds_! And a big thank you to all of my reviewers as well!

My update comes a little earlier than the update for the manga... Can't wait for it. But why is Kagami-sensei so mean and leaves so many cliffhangers that bring up more questions than they answer? Just when I think I'm finally getting some answers, the scene changes xD I just had to vent my frustration, sorry. None of my friends are into Owari no Seraph (Ｔ▽Ｔ), so they don't understand the struggle. But chapter 80 gave me life~. Hopefully, chapter 81 won't skip any important/interesting scenes again.

Anyway, enjoy the chapter!

* * *

 **Chapter 14 – Sanguinem**

A servant had to tell me the way to Mika's room because I didn't know where it was, and I was surprised to find out that it was on the same floor as mine, just around a corner. How had we never run into each other when we were avoiding each other? I had no idea.

As I was worried that Ferid decapitating me had brought up bad memories, I asked Mika to accompany me into Sanguinem to get the reminder off his mind. Oh, and I finally wanted to take a closer look at the city I'd only seen once while passing through. It wasn't the same size as Kyōto right above it, but it was still considerably large and I would probably get lost in it if I didn't have a guide...

Well, at least Krul's palace was hard to miss.

Despite the many pipes, I liked the architectural style of Sanguinem because it reminded me a little of Vienna. It had also been Mika's home for years, so I was rather curious about it. It seemed that he was allowed to walk around the city without guards now, just like me.

The boy had gotten out of his bloodstained clothes and was now wearing a black dress shirt, a white jacket and pants, and black shoes. It resembled the city guard uniform Lacus had been wearing, but its style was more elegant than military. Mika looked adorable in the new clothes.

While we were walking through the human districts of the city, the mortal residents all kept their distance or moved quickly out of our way if we got too close, or rather, mine because I looked more like a vampire than Mika with my crimson eyes.

At least they didn't run away in fear because they were too used to being around vampires and knew that they weren't allowed to drink directly from humans.

Although they had every right to fear me and they should. I _had_ hurt children and had drunk their blood. If my thirst wasn't sated, it would have been hard to control myself around them – even now I had to hold myself back. Something in me always craved for sweet, delicious human blood.

And there were so many humans at once here, so much life and _blood_. The sounds, sights and their enticing scents were overwhelming. I could tell that it bothered Mika too, but we both did our best to suppress the primal urge to drink from the humans we passed.

Still, it was an uncomfortable and daunting experience. It showed me quite plainly how different I was now from humans, that I didn't belong to them anymore.

Would I feel like that around my friends, too?

Mika showed me around the city, led me to spots that gave a good panoramic view over Sanguinem, and told me a few stories about his life here though many ended on a melancholic note. He pointed out important buildings like the Sanguinem Headquarters, where the City Guard was located, so I knew where it was.

Sanguinem was very clean compared to human cities above ground, where garbage was lying on the ground, or piling up in side alleys, even though Japan's cities and streets had been rather clean compared to other countries before the apocalypse.

Another thing I noticed was how pale the children were, how tired they looked, and that some even moved sluggishly or were a little too thin. They almost seemed like zombies when they left the building that Mika called the Blood Donation Centre.

This was where I got my blood from... I was disgusted.

"Don't they get proper food rations?" I wondered. It was already bad enough that they were confined down here, away from the sunlight.

"Everyone gets rations with the exact amount that their bodies require, but for some that isn't enough... People steal from each other here, hurt each other, and even kill each other over supplies or disagreements," Mika explained.

I was shocked to hear this. "And the vampires do nothing?"

"Why should they care about the disputes of humans, who they only see as cattle? As long as there are enough humans to donate blood for them in the city, they won't interfere."

"..." Yeah, that sounded about right. "This world is fucked up." Everything was fucked up.

"It is," Mika agreed wholeheartedly.

Then I heard the noise of small feet on stone approaching but the sound echoed through the streets, which made it hard to pinpoint it. Shouts sounded through the streets as well – we were in a more remote area of Sanguinem, close to the vampire districts that we would visit next, and it was getting close to the curfew for humans.

What was this about? I exchanged a puzzled glance with Mika, but he appeared to have an idea what this was.

A girl who was about ten years old rounded the corner with packed supplies in her arms. She stumbled when she got grabbed by the back of her dress by an older teen boy. A second one caught her by the arm.

Together they pulled her into a smaller alley and ignored her protests while they did so. The other handful of children on the street, ranging from five to twelve years old, who had witnessed the scene, took the smaller ones by the hand and hurried away as the girl began to cry for help.

"Are you kidding me? We've just talked about it, and now it's happening right in front of our eyes?" I complained. Was Sanguinem truly such a shithole for humans?

"It's a common occurrence here." Mika's expression was grim.

"Well, they're not going to do this shit when I'm around," I declared and marched into the side alley without wasting another second. Mika stared at me for a moment before he followed me.

"Give us your rations!" one of the boys demanded.

"N-no! They belong to my brother and me!" the girl protested.

"Not any longer. They're ours now. Give them up or they won't be the only thing you'll lose today," the other teen boy growled. The teens, who were hitting and kicking the girl because she wasn't letting go of her supplies, didn't notice me at first, only when I piped up.

"What do you think you're doing right now?" My tone was icy cold.

"Who..." one of the teens was about to say something before he spotted me and fell silent. He and the other boy, who appeared to be my physical age, paled as I approached them. Fright was displayed on their faces and I could hear their heartbeats speed up.

Good. I _wanted_ to intimidate and scare these humans in particular.

"Let go of the girl right this instant," I commanded them. They immediately sprung into action and did like I'd demanded. One point in favour for their survival instincts.

"S-she stole them from us," the teen who had threatened the girl earlier lied and lost that point right away.

"Don't insult my intelligence. Lie again and I might rip out your tongue," I said while I was gazing straight at the teen. "Now, answer my question."

He quivered in fear and stuttered when he answered, so I probably succeeded with intimidating him. A vampire's annoyed red gaze had to be a terrifying sight.

"W-we w-wanted to s-steal her rations... milady," the teen added the last part quickly. Oh, right, I was wearing unique clothes, which made them think that I was a noble.

"Why?" I was close to him now, but continued to circle him slowly.

"W-we wanted to eat it ourselves." The teen didn't dare to move even as he shivered and sweat began to run down his temples at my proximity and movement. The other one wasn't much better off.

They'd threatened to take even more from the girl... Because of her pushed up skirt I had a good idea what exactly that was, but I didn't mention it. Not with the girl around. She was traumatized enough.

"And did you not care that this girl and her brother would have to starve because of your greed? Or that she could even die from the injuries you caused?"

"N-no, we didn't c-care."

"I see." I crossed my arms. "How despicable. You acted like wild animals would and not like human beings with reason and a conscience. Your dead parents must be very proud of you." My voice dripped with sarcasm. One of the two teens at least had the decency to blush in shame.

Not that I was much better, considering that I was living off of basically stolen children's blood, but I hadn't beaten up a child for it.

After taking an exaggerated look at the name on their ID tags around their necks and stroking over the tags, so they knew that I'd memorized their names, I continued, "This is the only warning you'll get from me. Never steal from, threaten, or hurt another human in any way or form again, or I will make you pay for it. And I promise you that once I'm done with you, you'll wish I'd killed you right here and now instead."

I alternated my gaze between the two of them. "If you think your life here is hell at the moment, I will prove you wrong – it _can_ get even worse. Spread this warning amongst _all_ of the older livestock as well – I will no longer tolerate this distasteful behaviour here in Sanguinem. Do you understand?"

"Y-yes milady," they both replied instantly.

"Good," I smiled lightly, exposing my fangs with the action.

To prove that I could physically go through with my threat, I moved faster than they could see or react and grabbed their necks from behind. My claws extended, so the teens would feel them on their skin, and drew a little blood when I lightly pressed down on it. Their tries to remove my hands were futile.

Ever since I'd become a vampire, my nails had become sturdier, pointier and sharper, though they still looked the same apart from that, and I could extend and retract them like a cat its claws.

The blood that left the small wounds smelt enticing, but I restrained myself though it was no easy feat – I could feel the rapidly beating pulse underneath the skin, which pumped the red liquid through their veins.

"A small reminder so you won't forget my warning," I said before I let go of their necks and gave the teens a light push to their backs once I had wiped off their blood from my nails on their jackets.

They stumbled forward but didn't fall over. The imprints of my nails would probably become scars on their skin – a constant reminder of my promise and order.

"Now, get out of my sight," I commanded them and hoped that I had scared them enough to prevent a re-occurrence of this situation, or I would actually have to punish them somehow in the future.

"Y-yes, milady!"

They bolted immediately out of the alley, without even looking back once, their fear almost tangible in the air like the smell of their blood. I hoped it wasn't too hard for Mika to resist it. He had remained quiet until now but approached the remaining human and bent down to the fear-stricken girl, who had watched the whole scene unfold in silence.

One of her cheeks and her lip were a little swollen from a slap she'd received from one of the teens. She eyed Mika with confusion and weariness, but kept most of her attention on me. The shaken girl with two brown braids had tears in her eyes. My expression softened. I must have scared her as well.

"Can you stand?" Mika asked her and held his hand out for her to help her up. She stared at his hand in incomprehension, probably still trying to figure out what had just happened. Mika noticed the same and simply took her hand, pulling her to her feet.

"The night curfew is starting soon. You should return to your family," he told her in a soothing tone, which finally made her look at him and his clothes.

It was clear that she was puzzled about Mika's appearance, his clothes specifically, that were different from the livestock clothes.

If you didn't look closely, it was hard to tell that Mika wasn't a human, because he still had his blue eyes and hid his pointed ears underneath his blonde locks. Even his slit pupils and fangs went unnoticed by human eyes in the shadows of the narrow alley. The girl probably couldn't tell that Mika was a vampire.

"Who are you?" she asked him before she glanced at me. I'd remained standing where I was; some distance away from her.

"I'm Mikaela. What is your name?"

"M-Mei."

Mika smiled friendly, being careful not to expose his fangs. "Mei-chan, come, you need to return home."

"Ah, um... y-yes... thank you."

The girl flinched as she tried to take a step forward on her left leg and would have tumbled if Mika didn't catch her. Her ankle looked a bit swollen. She must have twisted it when she was pushed to the ground.

"It seems that you've injured your ankle... Is a friend of yours that could carry you home somewhere in the vicinity?" I asked her.

Her mouth had opened in complete surprise at my kind tone and her heart hammered wildly in her chest. The girl needed a moment to be able to talk again, being most likely too terrified of me to speak. Her eyes lowered to the ground.

"N-no… Onii-chan is sick, so I-I went alone to gather our supplies today."

I exchanged a worried glance with Mika at her words. He'd told me earlier that humans that roamed around during the curfew sometimes vanished without a trace – I could guess why.

Vampires were always thirsty for blood and if the opportunity presented itself, they most likely wouldn't hesitate to drink some. If there was no risk of getting caught or punished, they wouldn't care about the rules.

"I can carry you home if you're all right with that. I promise I won't harm you," I offered her with a reassuring smile, keeping my fangs hidden to not scare her further. Nevertheless, she avoided my gaze again.

"I-I don't know…" She didn't trust me one bit. Clever girl.

Mika decided to take action and placed a hand on her head in reassurance. "You can trust that Onee-chan – she won't hurt you. She helped you just now, didn't she?" he said in a warm tone while asking me wordlessly with a furrowed brow if I could handle being close to her and control my thirst. I nodded in response.

The girl looked up at Mikaela for a few heartbeats. "You'll stay with me, r-right?" she asked uncertainly.

"Of course!" Mika smiled at her in reassurance, his charisma overflowing.

"O-okay," she finally gave her consent. I approached her slowly and swatted to be on her eye level.

"I'm going to carry you in my arms, Mei-chan, okay?" I asked her to make sure she wouldn't freak out when I touched her. She nodded in response and I took a careful hold of her, hoisting her up into my arms while being mindful of my strength. Mei was as light as a feather.

The girl shivered either because of the close proximity to me, or because I had no body heat, but I couldn't do anything against it. This situation reminded me of the time when Ferid had taken me to my room when I had collapsed. But unlike him I was holding the girl a bit away from me, to not make her even more uncomfortable.

Her heart was still beating fast and pumping the sweet smelling blood through her body, but I was able to suppress the thirst although my mouth admittedly did get a bit dry and I had to gulp. Mika walked next to me as I carried the girl into the direction of her home after asking her about it.

Most of the streets were already empty of humans, but the few children we came across stared at me in horror and fright. They most likely assumed that Mei was my chosen prey and was going to get killed by me, even though there was a rule in Sanguinem that wouldn't allow this. I ignored the slightly stinging gazes, that saw me as a monster, like before.

Mikaela tried to keep up a conversation with the girl, which helped in keeping her as calm as she could be in this situation.

"T-there… It's the house on the left side at the end of the street," Mei said in a slightly breathless tone after we had passed a few districts and streets. I slowed my pace and then set her down in front of the door, moving back onto the street afterwards.

Mei knocked at the door that was opened a few seconds later by a boy about Mika's age who resembled her a lot. Just then the street lights changed colour, announcing the night curfew for humans. We had made it just in time.

"Mei, where have you been?! I've been searching for you! What happened to your face? I told you it was too dangerous to go without me!" he spoke fast in his worry and coughed a few times.

"The curfew is about to…" his eyes finally fell on me, "…start." They widened at my sight before he looked at Mikaela, who was standing at my side.

Mei turned around to us and bowed with her rations still in her arms. "Th-thank you for helping me."

"It wasn't an issue. Cool your ankle and cheek with cold water or ice if you have some, and be careful with it for the next few days," I advised her and smiled lightly.

The boy was dumbfounded and unsure of what was going on. Mika and I waved at Mei before we turned around, ready to leave.

"W-w-wait! Blond-haired boy!" Mei's brother yelled. "What about you? The curfew just started… You can stay with us for the night if you want to. You shouldn't be outside at this hour!"

Was he trying to help Mika out, or trying to separate him from me to save his live?

Mika and I both stopped in our tracks, but only he turned around. "I'm alright, don't worry. But you should keep a better eye on your sister to make sure she doesn't get hurt again. Good night," he smiled and waved at them one last time before turning back to me with a saddened expression on his face.

Was he thinking about his family again?

I ruffled affectionately through his hair, bringing his attention back to me and the present. "Do you think I have scared those teens enough to make them stop stealing from other children or hurting them?"

Mika snorted. "I think one of them even pissed his pants. But only time will tell. Were you serious about everything you said?" His blue eyes shone in question.

I pursed my lips. "I'm not sure. I _did_ beat up some bullies back in school with my friend Kaori, so I guess I'm going to punish those teens somehow this time as well if they don't listen."

Mikaela blinked before his features moulded into dry amusement. "Why am I not surprised about this?"

* * *

Some city guards glanced in our direction – specifically Mika's – while they were patrolling, but let us pass without protest because they sensed that he had no heartbeat and didn't smell like a human.

Soon, we stood in front of one of the stores for vampires – a jewellery store. I was astounded that something like that existed here, but then I remembered that some vampires – Ferid for example – wore earrings. Why shouldn't there be a store like this in Sanguinem, then?

I was intrigued and wondered what exactly they were selling here. "Do you mind if I take a look around this store?" I asked Mika.

"No... Let's go in," he replied.

There were earrings, armbands, rings, necklaces, belts, hair decorations and other things that were made of highest quality gold, platinum, silver, and precious stones. Everything here was unique. My eyes fell on a pair of delicate earrings that resembled snowflakes and were made out of many diamond shards that were dangling from a golden clasp.

"Do you like them? You told me you loved skiing and snow," Mikaela commented when he noticed what I was looking at. I nodded in response, eliciting a smile from Mika because I was still in awe.

Then I turned to the store clerk, who was a female vampire working on a golden ring.

"Excuse me, how can I buy something here?" I must have sounded like a total moron because she blinked at me in confusion.

"Just tell me your names. It will be deduced from your account."

"Account?" I asked. What account? I thought only humans had them?

The clerk sighed at our expressions. "Go to the City Headquarters to register your residency in Sanguinem and to get an account."

We both nodded in response and left the store. Outside I questioned Mika, "So you don't have an 'account' either?"

"I only have a 'livestock' account, and with that one I couldn't have afforded anything in that store." He scrunched up his nose. "It was the same back then. It was almost impossible to get a job here and earn some money to buy some potatoes or other groceries. The only other option to get your hands on proper food was to let a vampire noble suck your blood in addition to the blood donations."

The difference in wealth between vampires and humans was truly sickening. As was Mika implying that he gave a certain perverted vampire noble his blood to get proper food in return. Maybe we should leave this district.

"Is the library you've shown me earlier still open? I could use a good book."

According to Mika it was run by human children, and vampires rarely visited it because they had no interest in literature.

"The children should be at home now, but the library is open at all times." Mika didn't seem to dislike the idea of visiting it.

"Lead the way then."

* * *

"They don't have manga here?!" I exclaimed once we were inside the library. There were nothing but educational books or history books on the shelves. Very exemplary... but not what I was looking for at the moment.

"Of course not. Why would vampires bother to bring them down here?"

"Because manga are great?"

Mika chuckled. "I don't think that any of the other vampires share your opinion."

"They don't know what's good then."

* * *

The next morning I woke up in a really good mood because I was excited for the training. Leaving out the fringe, I braided my hair and dressed in a similar way as yesterday, with trousers, a long shirt and boots. No more dresses for me.

My locket was stashed in a secret compartment of the bedside table next to the coffin. I didn't dare to bring it with me to training. Who knew what kind of exercises Niall would make me do. It was fortunate that I hadn't worn it during the test, or Ferid would have seen it later when he beheaded me.

Someone had brought me a new bottle of blood that I stored in my fridge without eyeing it for too long. Krul had said that it would be best to drink a glass every day or every two days, so I would always be in top form. Drinking blood instantly increased a vampire's abilities.

A starving vampire wasn't in their top form, just like a starving human, though a vampire wouldn't die from a lack of blood but turn into a demon once the painful thirst had erased all of their sanity.

Guilt welled up in me as I wondered if that blood perhaps belonged to Mei or her brother, now that I could put a name to the crimson liquid. But I shook off that unhelpful thought. It was already drawn and no amount of self-loathing would change that I needed it to survive.

Shortly before 1 p.m. I entered the arena. Niall was already waiting for me. He had brought me a western longsword with a slimmer blade than the one from the test, being of the opinion that I would do better with this one.

He taught me new stances and forms, focusing the lesson entirely on making me remember the different stances and on letting me get familiar with the sword. I enjoyed it for the most part, although just repeating patterns for hours did become a little tedious.

Niall instructed me to take the sword with me to the headquarters, so René could give me a fitting belt for it. I was surprised that I was allowed to carry the weapon around just like that, but then I realized that if I wanted to seriously harm someone, I wouldn't need a weapon to do so.

Ferid had beheaded me with just his nails and was able to kill children without a weapon as well – every vampire was capable of that.

I spent most of the hour in between my lessons with repeating the things I'd learned from the Eleventh Progenitor because I had nothing better to do – Mika was having lessons, too at the moment, and I had no physical need for a break. A walk through Sanguinem would have been an option if I wasn't afraid of getting lost and being late as a result.

* * *

René was already waiting for me in front of the large open entrance of the City Headquarters even though I'd arrived five minutes early. The inside of the building was very similar to Krul's palace – high ceilings, some with chandeliers, large hallways that were softly lit by small lanterns on the walls, marble floors, pillars, golden ornaments, dark wooden doors.

There were sweeping stairs and elevators here and there, and corridors that led to different sections like the City Guard, that killed Horsemen or other threats which came too close to the city and prevented people from leaving or entering Sanguinem.

There were also the Command Centre, that organized all military activity, the Control and Supply Centre, that was responsible for the military hangars and ensured that all of the vehicles were in top form and even imported or exported whatever supplies were needed here in Sanguinem, and several more sub sections.

René showed me where the communal shower, locker rooms with adjoined curse detoxification chambers, training rooms, as well as the community rooms were on the ground floor.

The mission assignment room was located there as well, and the displays looked like something out of a science-fiction film. It reminded me of the computers they used in the 'The Avengers' film. God, I missed the sequels of that film. Only the first one had come out in this world before the catastrophe.

All in all, it was strange mix of Gothic and Roman architecture and advanced technology, certainly not what you'd imagine when you thought of a place where vampires dwelt. The sections and rooms for weapons, basic commodities, account management, and uniforms were on the lower level.

The commander offices were on the first floor and second floor respectively, as well as rooms for mission briefing and debriefing and the like.

I already knew that I would get lost here at least once because the Sanguinem Headquarters were huge.

A lot of vampires walked around headquarters as well, more than I had ever seen gathered in one place, either wearing the dark grey or white city guard uniforms. Some of them spared me a glance; probably because I was the only one who wasn't wearing a uniform, otherwise I fit right in with the crimson eyes, pointed ears and fangs.

René led me to an elevator, so we could fetch a belt for the sword I was carrying around and get me registered in the system. After asking Krul about accounts yesterday, she'd told me that she had only fabricated a livestock account for me, that said that I'd been found in Kyōto and had been brought to Sanguinem four years ago with most of the other children.

While we were travelling downstairs I realized that I didn't know how to address René, who wasn't a noble but still one of the more important common vampires with a high rank in the City Guard, and that there was something that had been on my mind for a while... Not just my embarrassing situation with him.

"Um... I'm not sure about ranks and all these things yet... So, how should I address you from now on?"

He met my gaze. "Calling me by my first name is acceptable."

"Alright... René, I wanted to thank you for not dragging me out of my room and leaving me be that time when… well…" I trailed off and fiddled nervously with my hands – I stopped the motion as soon as I noticed it.

At this point I was aware that I was probably stronger than him and that he might have simply let me be because he didn't want to test how he would fare against me. Or perhaps he had felt a shred of sympathy for me. Whatever reasons he had had for not dragging me to Krul after I'd first bitten a human, I was glad that he'd left me alone.

The vampire accepted my thanks with a light nod. In silence we left the elevator and entered a room with all sorts of weapon belts. It didn't take us long to find one that fit me.

Afterwards René brought me to the account management section. To create my account I had to fill in a document on some sort of tablet PC I'd received from one of the vampires in charge with all kinds of personal data in English or Latin. Naturally, I chose the English language because I had forgotten most of the Latin I'd learned in my past life.

The questions were pretty standard for the most part, but surprised me for the same reason. My name, gender, birth date, height, weight, even my measurements and blood type, which was O, were asked. I didn't know my current weight or measurements, though, so I left those gaps free.

Why would they need to know what my weight or blood type was? It didn't even matter at this point.

In addition, I had to fill in my residence, who my sire was, and which faction I belonged to, and if I was a progenitor, which rank I had or if I had progenies. When I filled in Krul's name and rank, I was immediately listed as a noble, which made me wonder how you would get classed as a common vampire.

After the vampire in the dark grey cloak had read over the information I'd filled in, he stared at me in mild surprise.

"Please excuse me, but I have to check the information on another account first to verify this..." he mumbled and proceeded to open Krul's basic profile, where my name was listed under progenies.

It was actually the only name there, because she wanted to keep Mika out of the spotlight, and there was even a livestock profile of me with an edited picture of me as a younger human in livestock uniform. Krul must have used one of the pictures from my locket to fabricate it.

If René saw it, he didn't mention it. The other vampire appeared to be a little puzzled, probably wondering why the Queen of Sanguinem had decided to turn one of the humans in her city into a vampire, but confirmed the information and created my account. In the room next door he took a picture of me that was added to my profile.

The vampire told me that my personal tablet PC would be ready in an hour and I could come to collect it then or at my earliest convenience. It was apparently the equivalent to a smartphone for vampires and was used to contact others, or receive messages and summons, and to see your personal schedule wherever you were.

Our next stop was the section that was responsible for the uniforms, where my measurements were taken and added to my account. It made sense – they wouldn't change anymore and could be accessed by any vampire tailor I shopped at now, which was very convenient.

René informed me about second-class and first-class swords when we walked past the corridor that led to the weapon chambers but didn't enter them with me because I already had a sword.

While he continued to show me around headquarters and explained how things were run in Sanguinem, how the vampires operated, and who did what, I wondered what he thought about me.

Did René still think that I was a freak and mentally deranged? Somehow the thought was hilarious. Poor René for having to put up with me once again. Krul was merciless.

My first day of lessons came to an end in the large training area, where I watched some of the vampires fight against each other while René explained some more things. Maybe I should come here more often – I could copy some of their tricks.

Niall was a good instructor but fought too respectably. Humans used all kinds of dirty tricks to fight and win as I knew from my own experience, so I needed to pick up as many different techniques as possible. Superior senses and enhanced physical abilities were no reason to get careless and underestimate my opponent.

"There you are, René." Lacus had appeared in the training area. "Oh, and the newbie is here, too. What are you two doing?"

René kept the explanation short.

"Heh, that's why I couldn't find you. So you're stuck with the ex-human for a while, huh?"

"In eight more minutes our scheduled lessons are over for today," René informed him.

"You're too pedantic, René. You're already done, aren't you?"

"I don't mind if we finish earlier – we also started a few minutes early," I told René, ignoring Lacus who had indirectly insulted me even though he wasn't wrong. I was eager to see Mika again.

"That is true," he conceded. "Alright, we're done for today then."

"Want to join us in the community room?" Lacus asked me out of nowhere. I was flabbergasted by the offer.

"Oh... um... no thanks. I already have plans with Mika." I'd rather not spent more time with vampires who only saw humans as livestock. It was bad enough that I drank human blood like them.

"The queen's other pet, huh?" Lacus mused. "I don't understand what she wants from you two."

"It has to be important, otherwise Queen Krul wouldn't have bothered to give her blood to _someone_ like Vivian." René and Lacus both looked at me in question. It was clear that René meant to say 'someone that had been an experiment', but refrained from doing so because of the other vampires nearby.

"That's the biggest mystery of all," Lacus agreed. "What is our queen thinking?"

"I will see you tomorrow," I said goodbye without answering their questions and left.

"See you soon, _Vivian,_ " Lacus raised his voice.

For the first time the violet-haired city guard had called me by my name instead of referring to me as 'former human' or 'newbie' again, but I didn't turn back.

It made me wonder whether I should be happy that I was finally called by my name again and treated like a person instead of a test subject, or horrified that the people who called me by my name now all were vampires.

Where did I belong now?

* * *

 **A/N: **I hope you enjoyed the insight into life in Sanguinem this chapter provided! I would love to hear your thoughts on it, so don't forget to leave a review! Have a nice weekend and enjoy the newest manga chapter if you read the Owari no Seraph manga :D


	15. City Guard

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Owari no Seraph, its plot or characters, or any other mentioned books, songs, or series. They belong to their respective owners. I only own my OCs and the plot that deviates from canon or doesn't exist in canon. This is a non-profit fan fiction just for fun.

 _ **To NguyetMieu:**_ Yep, I read the newest chapter(s) as soon as it(they) come out xD

Mika isn't quite over Akane's death, he's just good at hiding his feelings and his fading emotions do the rest. Playing tour guide for Vivian was enough to distract him a little, but it simultaneously brought up tons of memories of his family. Good and bad memories. The meeting with Mei and her brother reminded him of his family as well, so that day was a little of an emotional rollercoaster for Mika.

Vivian has indeed a small hero complex, or rather, mother hen complex? She tries to do what's right in her opinion. Finding her younger friends and protecting them is one of the few things that makes her stay determined and gives her life a meaning. Shinya and Mika are included in this.

The accounts were semi-canon. The children in Sanguinem definitely have some sort of livestock account (it pops up on that guard's tablet in episode 1 of the anime), that contained basic information of them (name, height, blood type etc.), I simply added some things I thought would make sense, like virtual credit that can be used to buy things. I doubt they use normal money in Sanguinem, but we've seen some children work, so they might get something in return for it.

If the humans are registered in some kind of virtual system in Sanguinem, I thought that the vampires would be, too. It makes organizing missions, guard shifts and blood rations for them etc. easier and would also explain why Guren had so detailed information about all of the vampire nobles and their servants in Nagoya from Ferid. As a high-ranking progenitor Ferid would have access to that data inside the City Headquarters. That's just my headcanon, though.

 ** _To my guest reviewer from August 2:_** Nope, that sword she received from Niall isn't a first-class sword. Vivian first has to prove herself before she gets one :D Fun fact: Niall himself has a first-class sword, but he didn't activate it during the test because Vivian only had a second-class sword. It would have been like cheating in his eyes, something that he dislikes.

 ** _To_ _P1anoman2019:_** Is it? Your comment really got me thinking and check the sources again. While I tried to work with canon (all media) and make sense of the few things we know about vampire society and the progenitor system, it's possible that I misunderstood something and perhaps even forgot some things over time. I also tried to explain the things that are never explained in canon (hopefully they will one day) with my own guesses... Some matters are also a little contradictory in canon.

Maybe I took my headcanon too far? For the moment I'll leave it like this but knowing myself, I'll probably adjust it sooner or later to make it more canon compliant xD Not that it really affects the plot of my story, but I just can't help myself. I'm happy to hear that you like my story and glad you like my take on the progenitor system, though!

 **A/N: Thank you all so much for the likes and follows and especially for the reviews/comments! They keep me motivated to write and upload my story. After all I decided to share this fic to get some feedback on it (this is me shamelessly asking for reviews xD).  
**

I'm sorry for the long wait. I hope this chapter makes up for it! I also edited chapter 1 to make it a hopefully slightly better read. You're in for more Vivian/Lacus/René interactions in this chapter. Hehe.

* * *

 **Chapter 15 – City Guard**

"You've put the gear stick into the third gear again instead of the first one, Vivian," René warned me.

I sighed. "I know."

The dark-haired vampire was currently attempting to teach me how to drive a military truck. I'd owned a driver's license in my past life, but I had only learned how to drive while sitting on the left side.

This car had been built in Japan, so the driver's side was on the right side. While the accelerator, break, and clutch were in the same place, the gear stick was on my left side, and I kept accidentally shifting into the third gear when I started the car.

It didn't help that I was out of practice after not having driven a car for more than seventeen years and that I had never been a very good driver.

"You've made the same mistake three times already, Vivi," Lacus reminded me unhelpfully from the back seat.

"I know," I repeated in a strained tone and turned around to glower at him. "Why are you here again, Lacus? Don't you have anything better to do than to annoy me?" This wasn't the first time that he'd joined my lessons with René in the past months and had shared his unwanted opinion with me.

"I'm already done with my guard shift, so I'm bored," Lacus shrugged.

"Then go home and sleep in your damn coffin!" I hissed.

"Eyes on the street," René cautioned me, completely ignoring our squabble like always, and I did as I'd been told.

"I'm not in the mood to sleep at the moment," Lacus replied. In the rear mirror I saw his malicious smirk. "I'd rather watch you fail in your attempt to drive a car. That's a lot more entertaining."

"You–"

"–Vivian, you're about to crash into a wall," René said nonchalantly, not really concerned because none of us would die if I actually crashed the car. It would be more of a nuisance, really.

I cursed under my breath and turned the steering wheel, making a sharp turn that let the tires screech.

* * *

"That's not how you repair a car," Lacus said from behind me.

As part of my lessons, I also had to learn how to short-wire and fix a car. It was a useful skill to possess in this desolate world, even if a vampire could get equally fast to their destination by running and jumping instead of using a car. But I couldn't always travel like that.

Once I'd found Makoto and Shūsaku, it would be safer to transport them in a car than to carry them over my shoulders like bags of rice. Not that I'd made any progress on that front. Krul hadn't let me leave Sanguinem yet.

"Is René my teacher or are you?" I shot back, denting the wrench I was holding as I gripped it tighter in my irritation.

The manner in which Lacus corrected me always managed to irritate me and distract me from what I was doing. I had the strong suspicion that he was doing it on purpose.

"While he is not your teacher, Lacus is right. You're doing it wrong, Vivian. You have to do this..." René calmly demonstrated and explained once more what I had to do in order to repair the engine.

How I wished I could play the piano or violin right now. I didn't sign up to become a car mechanic... I had absolutely no talent for it.

At the end of the lesson I was smeared with stinky engine oil and full of grime and scowled at Lacus. "I swear that if you join my flight lessons, too, I will crash the helicopter."

"Heh. That sounds like fun."

Done. I was so done with him. I threw my hands up in the air as I walked away. How could I forget that he'd seemed to enjoy ramming a plane into a wall in the series?

* * *

My lessons weren't a nice distraction anymore like they had been in the beginning, and I sometimes lacked the get up and go, but forced myself to go through with them. Thinking of my friends, of my goals and why I needed Krul to approve of my skills kept me focused. At least, the lessons were useful and I was able to do something at all. I reminded myself that it could always be worse, that it _had_ been worse for the past four years.

The training with Niall was going well. My swordplay skills improved tremendously under the progenitor's guidance, though it was only that – swordplay.

Once in a while I used my free time to fight some of the other city guards in the training area as well. While none of them were much of a challenge strength or speed-wise, not like Niall who had held himself back and underestimated me during the test and was in reality about my strength level, I could learn a lot of different techniques and tricks from the guards when I exercised restraint.

Even though I preferred winning, I let most of the matches with them end in a draw, or sometimes even lost on purpose. Vampires didn't seem to like having a rematch against someone that was a lot stronger and that they couldn't beat – I'd learned that from my first few opponents who refused to have a rematch after being defeated. They saw no point in it.

As a result, most of the guards assumed that I was either a common vampire from another country or a newly-turned vampire, which would explain why they'd never seen me before and why I was being taught basic things every other guard knew.

All of them were able to drive or repair a car since the first cars had been created more than a century ago. Many could fly a helicopter or plane as well. I didn't bother to correct their assumptions, not caring enough to confirm or deny anything.

It was also rumored that I was Krul's progeny, but no one apart from René, Lacus, vampires from Krul's faction, and that vampire who had made my account knew for certain. Maybe Lacus had spread the information. At least he kept quiet about the state in which I'd arrived in Sanguinem, like Krul had ordered him to.

On rare occasions I encountered guards that made spiteful comments about me because I was a newborn vampire and as such a former human. It didn't make much sense to me because Krul had told me that all vampires had been human once, but apparently some of them liked to pick on the new vampires who still retained some of their humanity and human emotions.

Maybe they just did so because they were bored or because they had been bullies when they had been human and still retained those personality traits now. Most of the vampires didn't care at all and didn't treat me any differently.

I usually simply ignored those comments coming from two guards in specific even though they became bothersome after a while. But today my frustration of being stuck in Sanguinem was getting out of hand again, and it didn't help that Lacus had bugged me earlier during my lessons with René.

"Get lost, former human sow, you don't belong here," Ivan insulted me when I was about to ask another guard named Hendrik for a match. Technically, he wasn't wrong – this area _was_ for guards, but it didn't say anywhere that others couldn't train here either.

Anyway, he really managed to piss me off. Maybe I should take a break and sleep tomorrow morning to relax a little. It had been a while. Or...

I turned slowly around to him, a sugar-sweet smile on my face. "And who decides that? You?"

"Are you trying to challenge me, ex-human?"

"Maybe I would challenge you, _if_ you were a challenge," I retorted cockily.

Some of the conversations around us ceased when my insult registered. Damn vampire hearing.

"Oh, this is going to be good," Lacus, who had been talking to another guard in the area, commented and elbowed René at his side when he saw me smiling at the guard.

Ivan glowered at me and drew his sword. "I'll beat you to a pulp and teach you your place, sow," he spat.

"Oh, I'm already shivering with fear," I mocked him and met his sword with mine as he attacked me.

Ivan's challenge suited me just fine to let off some steam. In addition, one demonstration without holding back might not hurt _me_ and would hopefully make his buddy and his annoying comments stop.

I played a little with the guard and let him believe that he had a chance before I went all out. First, I cut off his arm, then one of his legs. Several shattered bones later, when he was crawling away from me cursing and trying to reattach the limbs, I brought my boot down on his spine. The crack resounded in the training room.

At last, I kicked him enthusiastically through a pillar, destroying the marble stone in the process and making cracks into the floor when the other vampire collided with it. With a quick movement of my hand, I flicked the black blood off my sword and sheathed it with a satisfied hum, ignoring my silent but watchful audience when I went for the exit in an unusually chipper mood.

"The next time you wreak your ill humour on someone, try not to destroy the training room," René advised me.

"Duly noted."

"You sure did a number on poor Ivan," Lacus added humorously without any real pity for my opponent as I passed him.

"That'll be you the next time you decide to be a smart-ass during one of my lessons, Lacus," I retorted cheerily.

"Oho, you hear that, René? The newbie's getting haughty."

I ignored him and René's answer and left, not wanting to ruin my good mood. I'd long since made my peace with the fact that I'd developed a _slightly_ more violent streak over the past years. Or maybe it had always been there.

In any case, it wasn't like the other vampire would suffer from any health repercussions apart from a crushed pride. The bones would heal quickly and he could reattach his limbs just as fast.

Neither René or Lacus, or anyone who was aware of who my master was, had warned my opponent. Ivan was either not a very well-liked individual, or the others just didn't care enough to warn him.

No one had ever said anything in my defense either for that matter. The other guards had just let things play out and had observed the small spectacle with faint amusement. Maybe they had just been that bored.

In the following weeks, the insulting comments from Ivan and co. ceased somewhat, and some vampires even tried to get on my good side. They must have realised that the rumour about Krul being my master was true. It was kind of funny.

Unfortunately, no common vampire dared to challenge me again after that. Maybe I had been a little too rough and had enjoyed pummeling my opponent just a tad too much.

In any case, the fight, if it could even be called that, had been a welcome opportunity to relieve some of my pent-up anger and frustration that had build up because I wasn't allowed to go to the surface and search for my friends yet.

For how long was I going to be holed up in Sanguinem? I had already been here for over half a year.

Krul grounded me for a week for destroying parts of the marble ground and that pillar though I was still allowed to leave my room for my lessons. Her punishment reminded me of the punishments my parents had given me from time to time, like that time I'd put gum into a very mean girl's hair in grade school for making Emi-chan cry.

Despite my mental age I could be a _little_ childish, and now that I thought about it, I had even been a somewhat bratty kid at times.

Hmm... I hadn't been that bad the first time around, I think. Maybe becoming bolder and giving less shits was normal for someone who had died with regrets and got a second chance at life. Or maybe I'd just been too bored. Being a child again had been rather restrictive.

Thankfully, my best friend Shinya had come to the rescue right when I needed him. Meeting him had truly been a blessing. I wondered if I would be able to beat Shinya in a fight now.

* * *

I came to know that the high-ranking progenitors from the Progenitor Council like Krul were at the top of vampire society's pyramid. The progenitors from rank seven to twenty followed next, then came the few unranked nobles and common vampires with great battle prowess. The normal guards were in the lower part and at the bottom were the servants, the vampire civilians so to speak, who weren't capable of combat and mostly served nobles.

The largest part of vampire society consisted of common vampires, while there were only two hundred ten progenitors worldwide. The handful of unranked nobles were counted as common vampires and not included in that progenitor count though they were labeled as nobles in the system. Twenty-five progenitors resided currently in Japan.

* * *

When I wasn't grounded or fighting guards, I spent most of my free time in the company of Mika. I taught him the violin, Russian, and a few hand-to-hand combat tricks, as well as explored Sanguinem with him.

We often made music together, which really lifted my spirits, and Krul sometimes joined us to listen. We got along pretty well though we were not always of the same opinion.

Mika was actually the more level-headed one between the two of us. Who would have thought. He'd cave in to me if I bugged him for long enough, though. That was how we ended up chasing each other over the rooftops in Sanguinem a few times during the night curfew. In my opinion it was not only a fun activity but also a good exercise to get used to our enhanced bodies.

The tween told me a little more about his past, just like I told him more about mine. To hear that Mika had been abused by his father after his wife had become mentally ill, and that he'd been thrown out of a driving car... Just imagining how the sweet and kind Mika had been mistreated made me fume and wish that I could have kicked that man in the ass. He was lucky that he was already dead.

Mika received English, Latin, and sword lessons from servants of Krul's faction to ensure that he was properly educated as well. English and Latin were the most commonly spoken languages among vampires here in Sanguinem though a lot were able to speak Japanese, too.

Krul offered me an additional tutor after I'd gotten used to my new schedule, so the lessons with René were cut an hour short. Instead, I learned Latin from Flavia Agnelli, a common vampire of Italian descent, together with Mika. Many of the guards preferred to speak English, so I had enough English practice on a daily basis to not require a tutor for that language.

By now I also knew why Niall was so bent on being fair and courteous. The Eleventh Progenitor had told me some of his human past when I asked him about it.

He'd been born in 10th century Ireland as one of the sons of a king and had had a rather turbulent human life, where brothers and relatives had plotted against and killed each other to gain the title of king. He himself had been betrayed and stabbed in the back by his older brother after trusting him, and had been left to die in the wilderness, only to be found and turned by a bored Fifth Progenitor.

It was understandable that he'd come to dislike underhanded tactics because of this. Niall's past made me think about Crowley for some reason, whom I had yet to meet. I wondered if I had to wait three more years, until Krul would sent us to Shinjuku, to see him. Only time would tell.

Thinking of him and the faction he belonged to, Ferid kept visiting me at least once a month and when I least expected it, to my great displeasure. He would always inquire about my progress or try to subtly extract information about my past or my human friends from me. The silver-haired bastard was really hard to deal with.

* * *

Shortly after one of our Latin lessons, when I was just about to start practising the violin with Mika, I received a message from Krul to join her in her private chambers, her bathroom to be precise, which puzzled me in the first second.

Then I remembered where I was, a place that had a lot of elements from Roman architecture, so it wasn't too far off to assume that Krul owned a rather large bathroom, which probably looked more like a communal bathroom than a private one.

My suspicions were confirmed once Krul led me into her private quarters. It was indeed a Roman bath, similar to a hot spring, and was large enough to swim in. Once more I thought over what Mika had told me. That vampires were hogging all the wealth while the humans here lived in poor conditions, because they were nothing more than livestock in their eyes.

Unlike humans vampires didn't even need to bathe if they hadn't gotten dirty through external factors, because most of their bodily functions had ceased, meaning no bodily excretions and the like. So, why was there a need for such a large bath when it was usually only Krul who used it on occasion?

"Come join me, Vivian, and keep me company for a while," Krul said as she began to take off her boots.

I'd become pretty accustomed to communal bathing while living here in Japan, so I began to remove my clothes as well after hesitating for a moment. It wasn't like feeling bad for the humans here and denying the invitation would change anything about their living conditions or that the bath was here, even if it made me frown and feel a little guilty.

I had to admit that the warm, steaming water looked very inviting. Even if vampires were not affected by temperatures, who would say no to a warm bath?

"I've talked with Niall earlier," Krul began once we were both in the water. "He thinks you have the potential and abilities to wield a first-class weapon. And René has told me that you are ready to be added to the City Guard."

"I'm happy to hear that," I said and smiled at the thought that Niall and René approved of my abilities. All that blood, (figurative) sweat, and (non-present) tears had finally paid off. The worst of all had been Lacus' vexing smartassery.

I was more than ready to go to the surface world again and search for my friends. I also missed seeing the sky a little.

"You will be added to the City Guard starting from tomorrow, but you will still continue your lessons with Niall for a while longer. In about four months, at the end of October, there will be a ball for the nobility in Japan here in Sanguinem. I wish to officially introduce you as my progeny then," Krul continued.

"I understand." I didn't care much about that, only that I would be able to search for my friends on the surface mattered. And if Mika received less unwanted attention that way, so be it.

Krul allowed me to take a day and a half off every week to search for my friends, but I had to scout Japan for humans at the same time and avoid fighting with the Demon Army when I was alone. I accepted her conditions.

"What about the uniform? Do I really have to wear that horrible dress?"

She eyed me with a lifted brow. "It is a regulation that unranked nobles and common vampires of the City Guard wear the uniform. Does it really matter?"

"Well, I don't want to flash perverts like Ferid with my undies."

A few months ago I would have never dared to speak about such topics with Krul, but I had become a little more familiar with her. And considering that we were sitting naked next to each other inside the water, it wasn't too embarrassing to bring something like that up.

A light smile played around her lips. "While I can understand your concern regarding _that_ individual, I won't change the rules for you. A small word of advice, though; the more you react to Ferid, the more it excites him. He takes pleasure in annoying or scandalizing people and playing with them."

I scowled at the thought of having to wear that dress and being around Ferid in general. "I already figured that out."

We spent some time in companionable silence, relaxing in the hot water.

"Why did you call me to your private chambers instead of your Royal Audience Chamber?" I was being curious. "Not that I'm complaining."

Krul turned to me. "Am I not allowed to spend some time in the company of one of my children?"

"...Children?" I asked in confusion. Was this meant as an insult or did she somehow care for me like a child in some strange way? Considering Krul's mental age, it wouldn't be too far-fetched.

"Of course. I turned you into a vampire and gave you a new life. That makes me your mother according to vampire custom," the Vampire Queen explained.

I'd come to like Krul but wasn't sure what to think about this. "I see..."

"Before the ball I will arrange another tutor for you who will teach you everything you need to know about our society and our customs," she said and I sighed in return. Even more lessons awaited me... More time that stood between me and finding my friends.

"Be patient, Vivian, you will have more than enough time to search for these humans of yours," Krul reminded me, guessing what I was thinking.

She wasn't wrong, and compared to her, who has been searching for her brother for several hundred years, a few months or years were nothing. I couldn't fathom what it was like to be apart from the ones I loved for so long.

Dying and being reborn was another matter because I knew that I would never see the people I'd known in that life again. They'd also been safe last that I saw them, which gave me some piece of mind, but the same couldn't be said about my friends from this world.

These past few years without my friends that I could technically still meet had been terrible. The uncertainty of their state was gut-wrenching.

"Do you miss him?" I dared to ask the Vampire Queen in a softer tone. "Your brother, Ashera."

Krul gazed up at me before she seemed to get lost in memories. "...Yes, very much. Why do you ask?"

I was surprised and pleased that she was being honest with me, trusted me enough to reveal a more vulnerable side of herself to me. Then again, I was her progeny, part of her faction, and was dependent on her because of the deals we'd made.

"It's only been a little over four years since I've seen Shinya and my other friends, but I miss them so much it's almost driving me crazy sometimes. Being apart from your family for centuries must have been lonely..."

"...It was. But my search has finally come to an end, now that I know for sure where my brother is," she gave me a long look. "Three years will pass quickly."

"And once Yū has received Ashera as his demon weapon, we will get them back. For you and Mika. We will get all of our loved ones back," I finished.

Krul smiled. "You're still as passionate as ever, Vivian."

I smiled warmly back at her. "Do you want me to wash your hair?"

* * *

Once I'd left Krul's quarters, I immediately informed Mika of the good news and engulfed him in a hug. In the past months I had given Mika at least one embrace a day to show him my affection and that he wasn't alone, but I would have hugged him anyway because he was too adorable to resist.

Mika still got into depressed and self-loathing moods, but he had gotten a little better, like me. Keeping each other company and talking about our issues had helped both of us. Additionally, I didn't have any panic attacks anymore as a vampire, nor nightmares, and even dreams were rare. Not that I slept often in the first place – I had more important things to do.

Getting out and interacting with other people, even if they were apathetic vampires for the most part, as well as a somewhat normal daily life with tasks to fulfil had aided me to mentally recover from the past four years, too.

Many of my emotions and feelings were fading, but thankfully, all of my affectionate and more passionate feelings had remained as they were. Around Mika or Krul I still felt more alive and human for some reason.

It was a concern that my emotions were atrophying, but there wasn't anything I could do against it apart from reminding myself of my values and holding onto my goals and the stronger feelings, like the love for my friends.

"Are you done now, Vivi-nee?" Mika asked after a minute or more, being done with my antics.

"Not yet… You're just too cute for your own good, Mika," I cooed and continued to hold him. I didn't have to bend down as much as four months ago because he had grown a little.

The boy let out a sigh. "If you don't let go of me, I can't give you your congratulatory present."

"Present?" I repeated and let Mika wiggle out of my hold. The young vampire nodded and pointed to the sofa in his room.

"Sit or you won't get your present."

I listened to his command and sat immediately down on the sofa, which made him smile. "If only it was this easy to make you listen to me all the time," he joked.

"I'm not a dog," I pouted playfully.

Mika smiled in response and went to his bedside table, or rather, the one next to his coffin, and pulled something out of the drawer. He gave me a small rectangular case with a blue ribbon on it.

"Congratulations on becoming a city guard! Now you can finally search for your friends."

Taken aback by the unexpected gift, I accepted it with a grateful smile. "Thank you, Mika!"

The case contained… the diamond snowflake earrings I had wanted to buy a few months back. How and when had he...?

"Even if I dislike how vampires keep all the wealth for themselves, I couldn't get it out of my head how you were looking at that shop with such longing as if it contained your long lost love whenever we walked past it," Mikaela answered my silent question. "I... I wanted to express my thanks to you somehow, so I asked Krul to get them for me." Because Mika didn't have one of those vampire accounts yet.

"That was very thoughtful of you." I smiled softly. "Thank you so much, Mika! I'll treasure them!"

"You're welcome."

* * *

After I'd picked up the tailored uniform with a cloak and black boots from the section that had been responsible for customizing it, I changed into it in the changing room.

I was still a little peeved that I had to wear this form-fitting black dress with red linings and a deep v-cut, that showed my cleavage. It went down over my knees and stopped at the shin.

At least the stupid thing had a white bolero jacket and long sleeves that covered my scars. The sleeves were exactly the same as the sleeves on the uniform for male guards, and there was a guard on the left shoulder that would protect me from ultraviolet light. Why couldn't the rest have been the same, too?

The halter-neck dress had even a black collar with the golden vampire insignia, like the uniform for males. Of course, _that_ was important.

I was wearing the thing like Krul had told me to, but also left on the black, tight-fitting pair of pants I'd arrived in as a small rebellion. You couldn't see them underneath the black dress, but now no perverted silver-haired vampires would see my panties ever again. Even if it was the midst of summer, I wouldn't get hot or sweat in my clothes anyway thanks to my stopped metabolism.

As usual, I braided my hair like Irina had taught me to do it – a smaller braid at each side of my head that merged with a larger french braid at the back of my head, leaving out my fringe. Then I put on the boots, white cloak and weapon belt with my sword.

Lacus and René were waiting for me in front of the digital display. With each step I took the earrings Mika had gifted me were swinging softly, just like the long braid at my back.

I'd left my locket behind in my room because it would have been out in the open with that wide cleavage. Maybe I could buy a small pocket, that I could attach to my sword belt, in one of the vampire-run stores later.

"I thought you would look more pleased after finally joining the City Guard," Lacus commented on my slight scowl as we went downstairs to the weapon chambers.

"I am overall pleased about my progress, but I hate the sexist uniform dress code." Even the children here in Sanguinem had to conform to them. Not that my middle school had been any better.

Lacus furrowed his brows and René stared blankly at me as if they had both no idea what I was talking about while we were in the elevator.

"What is 'sexist'?" Lacus asked me, and I wondered whether he was being serious or if he just wanted to rile me up again.

Then I remembered that I'd read somewhere that the term sexism was first coined sometime in the 1960s if my memory served me right.

Of course, vampires who were older than one hundred years – which was pretty much everyone here apart from Mika and me – and weren't interested in human society would have no idea of any of these concepts, nor would it exist in their society. Humans were just cattle in their eyes and their blood was the only thing most vampires were interested in.

And in vampire society only your power really mattered. It was unimportant whether one was male or female, or whether one had been young or old, short or tall when they had been turned, because the vampirism made everyone powerful. It just depended on who had turned you, how long you have been a vampire, and what your own talents and capabilities were.

Technically, a child and a fully grown man could be equally strong if they'd been turned by the same noble roughly around the same time and possessed the same skills. Although... an incomplete vampire like Mika was weaker than a true one that had been turned by the same vampire.

This was the reason why Mika was not as powerful as me at the moment. Once he drank human blood, he would be able to match my raw power because we'd been turned just months apart, though it would depend on his own talents if he would be able to beat me in a fight. I had ten more years of fighting experience than him.

But back to the uniforms. The more traditional dress code was most likely just a remnant from human society and the older vampires' life in it when they were still humans themselves.

"Let's just say I dislike this dress and would have preferred to wear the same uniform as you," I answered him while René was leading us to the weapon chambers, having no interest in the topic.

"What's wrong with the dress?" The talkative violet-haired guard let his eyes travel over it and consequently my figure. "It seems to fit." He totally didn't get it.

"Why don't you try wearing a dress and fight in it to find out the answer yourself, Lacus?" I suggested with a sugar-sweet smile. Now that I thought about it... a dress might actually suit him because he had a rather feminine face. I had to snicker at the mental image of Lacus in the uniform for females.

"...Why do I have the feeling that you're laughing at my expense now?"

"You should try on a dress. I think it would suit you," I told him with a grin.

"Why would I ever wear a dress? They're for females." He clearly lacked any imagination.

I facepalmed in response. I couldn't even tease him if he didn't get the point.

"Weirdo," he mumbled.

"And you lack imagination," I retorted.

René sighed as he typed in a code on an electric panel. After we'd stowed my old sword away, René had to type in another code for the chamber with the first-class swords.

I'd tried out other weapons with Niall, but I was still most comfortable and proficient with any kind of sword. Oh, and I liked swords because of my otaku interests in samurai and any anime or manga associated with the topic.

It had been a small disaster when I tried to use a scythe once. Don't get me started on a whip. They were not for me.

I took my time to look around the displayed first-class swords and even spotted a familiar one – the sword Mika would wield later on. I eyed it for a moment before I moved on. To my immense disappointment there were no first-class katana either.

In one of the see-through containers in a corner I found a smaller longsword that was similar to the second-class sword I'd practised with. It looked like it could actually suit my height and had a sweeping, golden crossguard like a rapier.

I was drawn to the double-edged sword and opened the case to remove it. The weapon instantly felt right in my grip and suited my height well. It could be wielded with one hand or with both. The blade appeared as if it was made out of glass, like most of the other vampire weapons.

"This is it," I told René and Lacus, who had been watching me in silence, and put the sword back in its red sheath. I would have preferred a blue one but was glad that I'd received a first-class sword at all.

"Are you sure you want to remain with a sword?" René asked me.

I nodded. "A sword suits me best." I fastened the weapon on my belt.

* * *

René, Lacus and I left headquarters with our first-class weapons. Lacus had a halberd and René a sword. René had said that I should test my sword on a Horseman outside so we were on our way to Sanguinem's exit.

I would finally to return to the surface world.

Thankfully, we came across no humans on our way because it was already the night curfew. Who knew if Lacus was daring enough to suck the blood of a rule breaker.

When we were nearing the sewers, I could already smell them from afar. What had been uncomfortable for my human sense of smell was downright toe-curling disgusting for me now.

"Already getting overwhelmed by the smell, huh?" Lacus commented on my scrunched-up nose as we entered the sewers. I didn't reply. What was the point?

This time I didn't stumble on the way and I was also a lot steadier on my feet. The way up took a lot longer than I remembered, though. There were so many stairs... We truly were really deep underneath the surface in Sanguinem. When I had entered the city, I must have been too frightened and occupied with my own thoughts to notice it.

"Don't forget to remember the route, Vivian," René reminded me. "This is one of the less often used exits on patrols."

Hah. I wondered why.

Soon we were back in the spacious hallway that led to the outside world. On the way through the former mine shaft I couldn't stay patient anymore and rushed past Lacus and René.

"You think she's going to escape?" I heard Lacus question René, not sounding the least bit concerned.

"No, she knows her place."

René was right, but I ran faster just because I could.

And then… I was breathing in the mild, moist air of July. There was no sun in the sky but a moon and the stars. If not for that fact I would have thought that it was midday, because the night wasn't dark anymore and I could see everything with astounding clarity, just like in Sanguinem.

The different shades of darkness and subtle hues of the world, even the movement of the air seemed to be visible to my eyes. The sky was dark, and beyond that darkness, blue, and the surroundings that had once been dark and covered in shadows were as light as during the day, just without the sunlight but the moonlight in its stead.

Compared to the last time I'd been out here I could see much farther into the distance as well. Although I had become used to this enhanced sight over the past months, seeing the outside world with it was definitely something else. This world was breathtakingly beautiful and precious.

And yet... I felt as if my ability to appreciate that beauty had grown faint. Instead, I felt the thirst for blood, sated for the moment, but always in the back of my mind, and was only mildly excited to be out here because it meant that I was one step closer to finding my friends.

I walked down the small hill underneath the entrance and stopped at the edge of a cliff to overlook my old home town. When I entered Sanguinem more than half a year ago, I hadn't been more than a broken, desperate, anxious, revenge and anger-driven shadow of myself, and I had been sure that I would never see the outside world again and die underground.

But here I was. Not quite alive, but ironically a little more like my old self personality-wise. I breathed in the fresh air once more that so different from Sanguinem's air.

The earthy scents of nature, the smell of grass and the trees close by, as well as the faint smells of animals were quite pleasant.

My ears perceived the sounds of insects chirping or crawling around, animals of the night creeping through the under brush nearby in search for prey, the rustling of the leaves and grass in the wind, the quiet creaking of the trees. I could also hear the inhumanly silent footsteps of two more vampires.

As Lacus and René came down the hill at a more sedate pace, I turned around to them with a small smile on my face. "Where to now?"

"Follow me into the city," René instructed me.

* * *

While I was taking in the damage from close up during our patrol, I was feeling slightly saddened again that this once beautiful and intriguing city looked so abandoned and shabby now.

At some point I heard a strange sound in the distance and asked the others about it.

"That's most likely a Horseman of the Apocalypse. Let us go and destroy it," René said and we moved into action, jumping over the roofs of houses like ninja.

It was almost like flying and I quite liked this way of traveling I'd practiced with Mika on the rooftops of Sanguinem.

It didn't take us long before we saw _them_. The creepy-crawly Horsemen of the Apocalypse. It wasn't just one but two huge green and red monsters. I really didn't want to see one again after my last encounter a few months back.

They were as revolting as I remembered with their alien, spider-like looks, but I knew I could probably take them down... or at least run away fast enough and evade them if I didn't succeed.

"Who takes which one?" I asked René.

"You take the green one. You should be able to handle one by yourself. Lacus and I will take down the red one."

"Alright."

"Draw your sword, Vivian, and repeat what I do," René said as he drew his own sword. "Sword, drink my blood." At his words spikes came out of the handle and pierced through his hand while the blade of the sword turned red.

It looked slightly disturbing, but I repeated his actions and words, and my sword reacted to the command in the same way. Four spikes emerged from the handle and pierced through my hand. After a short moment of faint pain the glassy blade turned red and I felt like I was getting energized and even stronger than usual.

We then went to our respective targets. To my immense relief the huge green monster didn't react even as I got closer; it was just trudging aimlessly through the city, destroying cars and other things in its way with its claws.

It stank even more like a rotting corpse now thanks to my more sensitive nose. Bah.

I jumped at the thing and sliced through it in several places. The sword went through the creature like a hot knife through butter and made its foul-smelling blood spill out.

I quickly moved out of the way before the Horseman's blood could touch me. Ugh, now the creature stunk even _more_. Like a rotting corpse _and_ some other unidentifiable unpleasant scents. I didn't want to imagine what the blood would taste like.

The spidery monster fell to the ground in multiple parts, unmoving. I noticed that I'd left several deep, long gashes in the asphalt as well because I'd been a little overzealous when taking the Horseman down.

Whoops. This sword was awesome, though.

René and Lacus took down theirs, too, a few seconds later. It was kind of anticlimactic. I'd thought that it would be harder to kill one of these huge monsters, even as a vampire, but no.

I peered down at the Horseman at my feet, and in a wave of mild interest mixed with disgust, I bent down and poked a non-bloody part of it to get an idea about the hardness of its skin. It felt warm and leathery, kind of like an elephant's skin but a lot harder and also... a little slimy.

Eww. I scrunched up my nose in disgust and wiped my fingers on the edge of my cloak.

Rene and Lacus joined me and eyed my target that had been hacked into pieces, as well as the deep gashes in the ground.

"It's only been half a year since you were turned, but that power..." Lacus began. "You know, I've observed you while you were fighting with the other guards, and you are clearly no beginner. Even training underneath Lord Niall wouldn't have made you that proficient this fast. Not even receiving her majesty's blood would have miraculously made you able to wield a sword and fight."

"The question is why and how you even have these skills if you were just a test subject for human experimentation for years. Or were you taught in that place in order to turn you into a more efficient weapon?" René inquired.

"Who are you exactly?" Lacus added his own question to the mix.

A cold smile that showed my fangs stretched over my lips as I rose from crouch. "What's this? Now that we're completely alone out here, you try to interrogate me? This sure takes me back."

"You were always avoiding answering our questions inside the city," René pointed out. Krul had also ordered him and Lacus to remain quiet about me and my circumstances, so they couldn't just ask me more detailed questions about my past inside Sanguinem. Someone could overhear it.

When I raised my sword, I could see them tense ever so slightly in preparation to defend themselves, which faintly amused me. How things could change.

With a quick motion of my hand I flicked the icky Horseman blood from my new sword before I sheathed the weapon. The spikes withdrew instantly and the wounds on my hands healed just as fast.

"Hmm... well, I guess I do owe you some answers for putting up with me these past months, and for not killing me right away when you found me at the entrance of Sanguinem," I conceded in a dry tone. Giving René and Lacus some answers would hopefully make them stop asking me these questions.

"I've been studying kendō and karate since I was a very young child, but I wasn't anyone special. I was just unlucky enough to get captured by the Demon Army. I also continued to practice what I'd learned as well as I could while I was being held captive – I couldn't afford to grow weaker if I ever wanted to get out of there, after all. So that's why I'm not a complete rookie concerning swordplay and hand-to-hand combat."

"Why would a human child of this time period decide to learn swordplay?" René asked.

The question made me grin. "Because I was _interested_ in it, of course."

"As if we can believe that," Lacus sneered.

I shrugged. "It's the truth. I was a little odd for a child." Because I'd been reincarnated and hadn't really been a child. "Learning kendō or karate is also not _that_ uncommon here in Japan. If you can't believe me, that isn't my problem."

"That still leaves open the question why Queen Krul made you her progeny," René pointed out. He really couldn't let that go, could he?

I sighed. "You've seen what the humans turned me into. Maybe Krul wanted to keep her exotic pet with interesting information and certain talents for a while longer to drive off her boredom?"

I placed a hand on my hip. "I guess it was also convenient for her that I want to destroy those vile and greedy human organisations that temper with forbidden things more than anyone else." Just like the vampires.

"But isn't that just because of your own personal vendetta?" Lacus reasoned.

"Does it really matter if the end result is the same?" If I was ever ordered to kill the JIDA's researchers I would gladly dispose of them. What did it matter if I liked what I'd been ordered to do for my own personal reasons? "The humans will die either way."

"Well, you're right about that," he conceded.

"Why did her majesty order us to stay silent about your past and the fact that the humans had turned you into some kind of angelic monster with strange abilities?" René asked. "What kind of bio weapon were you supposed to be?"

Yikes. I couldn't answer that, couldn't tell them that I'd been a sub-project of the Seraph of the End experiments. "Does that really matter? I'm a vampire now."

"If you don't feel like answering us, we can just find out on our own."

"Are you going to defy Queen Krul's orders?" I glared at René and Lacus while I gripped the hilt of my sword. It was a clear threat. Stay quiet, or else...

I was lucky that they didn't seem to know about the Seraph of the End project yet unlike the progenitors.

René narrowed his eyes. "No, of course not."

"Good," I gave him a big fake smile and let go of my sword. "Did that answer all of your questions?"

They exchanged a look at my question. "...For now," René answered me before he changed the topic. "Don't forget that a first-class weapon significantly increases your power but feeds on your blood in return. As a consequence, it will stimulate the thirst."

"I'll keep that in mind."

"Let's continue with the patrol."

At one time, when I was a few buildings away from the two guards because I took care of another Horsemen, I pretended not to hear Lacus when he asked René, "Did that seriously happen just now? The newbie threatened us?"

* * *

When we returned to Sanguinem shortly before sunrise, we were all thirsty for blood because of the usage of the first-class weapons. Once again I turned down Lacus' invitation to go fetch some blood with them from the Blood Bank and join them in the community room.

Through him I'd come to know that vampires could actually _choose_ what kind of blood they wanted; which gender and age as well as which blood type. As if the Blood Bank was a fast food store, only with human blood instead of fries and burgers on the menu. Humans were truly nothing more than livestock in the eyes of those who went there.

It made some sense to give the vampires here at least a choosing option to keep them satisfied, because there was a set limit for blood for each person, but I didn't want to be confronted with that choice myself. I'd rather drink whatever random blood was delivered to my room.

Most common vampires – servants and lower-ranked guards – received a maximum of 75 millilitres of blood for their services every couple of days. That amount wasn't more than a vial, but it was enough to sate the thirst for three days. This was a precaution to prevent a shortage of blood.

However, the amount could vary a little depending on their master, pay grade and occupation. Lacus and René for example received more blood than most common vampires, due to their combat skills and military rank. Plus, they also wielded first-class weapons.

Nobles received even more blood than them, which was rather unfair, but that was how vampire society worked. As Krul's progeny and city guard with a first-class weapon I profited from this system.

Because Krul's palace was in the same direction as the Blood Bank, the three of us walked back together.

"It's a pity there's no blood of livestock older than seventeen here in Sanguinem. At least they have my favourite type – males with blood type AB," Lacus stated.

It was a relief that our ways parted before Lacus would ask me for _my_ favourite type. When I returned to my room, the sun had already risen in the outside world, but it couldn't be seen here in our underground world. I sighed in defeat at my thirst and drank my daily glass of blood before I visited Mika.

There were some battles that just couldn't be won.

Still, the future didn't look as bleak as before anymore because I was allowed to search for Shinya, Makoto and Shū from now on.

* * *

 **A/N:** I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Vivian will finally leave Sanguinem in the next chapter and do what she became a vampire for. Also, missions, yay!


	16. Missions

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Owari no Seraph, its plot or characters, or any other mentioned books, songs, or series. They belong to their respective owners. I only own my OCs and the plot that deviates from canon or doesn't exist in canon. This is a non-profit fan fiction just for fun.

 ** _To P1anoman2019:_** I'm glad you liked the chapter and the changing dynamics/tension between René, Vivian and Lacus! I love writing these three together :D

 ** _To NguyetMiu:_** I'll never get tired of praise lol. I'm happy you appreciated the details I put into this! I do try to keep this story somewhat realistic and do my reasearch. Yep, Ivan, the typical bully. I wasn't sure whether to delete that scene or not, but I thought that it would be unrealistic if all vampires were completely fine with newbie Vivian 'invading' their space, lack of emotions or not. Someone had to retain a nasty personality trait from their human life.

Hmm... was Mika giving Vivian a present really that odd? I thought it fit quite well considering that Mika was the main caretaker of his family and was even willing to do something he disliked (giving his blood) to do his family well (food in this case). He felt thankful towards Vivian for cheering him up and teaching him a lot of things, and wanted to do something in return for her for once, even if he might dislike it. Maybe that didn't come across right?

Oh yes, Vivian is more than ready to search for her babies!

 ** _To my guest reviewer from September 17:_** Good thinking! Unfortunately, I can't answer that question yet, because it would spoil future chapters. You'll have to read to find out ;)

 ** _To SeraphFan97:_** Wow, thank you so much for the multiple reviews! Here is an imaginary cookie for you xD I'm happy that you enjoyed my story so far and appreciate the compliments! I can't wait for Vivian and Shinya's reunion either~. Just be patient for a little longer ;)

 _ **To Jonh137:**_ It makes me happy to hear that :D And it brightened _my_ day to read your review!

 **Warning: There will be some spoilers about Crowley's past in this and the coming chapters.**

* * *

 **Chapter 16 – Missions**

 **Second Shibuya High School, Shibuya, July, 2017**

A teen with blue eyes and medium length, violet-blackish hair approached his best friend. Said friend was on the rooftop of the school they were attending and was wearing the same school uniform as him, although the second teen had longer hair that he kept in a ponytail. He was staring into the distance and appeared to be lost in thought.

"Are you thinking about Vivian-senpai again, Makoto?" Shūsaku asked him.

"I wonder why Vivian wasn't able to make it to the refugee camps in Shibuya or Shinjuku on her own. It doesn't make sense. She lived in Tōkyō after all. Even we made it here all the way from Nagoya when the world ended. Why wasn't _she_ able to?" Makoto turned around to face his childhood friend. He still resented Hiiragi Shinya and hadn't seen him again since that one confrontation three years ago.

A sombre expression crossed Shūsaku's face. "She was a little over thirteen years old back then… Despite what Lord Shinya has told us, the virus might have affected her, or it could be that she was captured by the vampires. Maybe even a Horseman–" Sometimes doubts like this nibbled at him.

"–Not many thirteen-year-olds were affected," Makoto interrupted him. "And I'm sure she was clever enough to hide from the Horsemen and vampires. She still _has_ to be out there somewhere, Shū. Vivian is too stubborn to die." He was convinced of that.

"Well... you've got that part right, Makoto."

"I will become top of the class and get a powerful cursed weapon. Once I have one, I can go out there and search for Vivian by myself. Oh, and wipe the floor with the bloodsuckers while I'm at it. And then I will drag her back here and have my rematch and show her that I'm not the same rash child anymore. This time I'm going to hand her ass to her!" Makoto didn't need any Hiiragi for that and would bring her back through his own power.

Shūsaku mumbled, "Not this again..." He shook his head with a fond smile. "Then I've got to make sure that you don't kill yourself on accident while searching for Vivian-senpai. I promised her to keep an eye on you."

Shūsaku retrieved a small book from his uniform pocket, which he had read a dozen times already. It was one of the few things he'd brought with him from Nagoya.

Makoto held out a hand to his friend in interest, who then placed it in Makoto's hand. "' _Psychological Warfare_ – _How to prank your friends and enemies while making it seem like an accident',_ " the brown-haired fifteen-year-old read out loud. "Shū, who…?"

"It's obvious, isn't it?" Shūsaku smirked.

"Vivian," Makoto groaned.

"It was the last birthday gift I received from her. I couldn't part with it. The plans in there are genius, especially the ones that include ropes," Shūsaku smiled to himself.

Makoto browsed through the contents. "So my pants didn't slip down on accident while I walked up the stairs to school last week… Shū, you…!" Makoto paused at the final page of the book.

There was a drawing of _something_ , and next to it a somewhat decent owl. He immediately knew who had drawn it. Makoto had never understood Vivian's fondness of the nocturnal birds. He had even come to despise the things after having received one too many 'funny and cute owls' videos from Vivian.

"...What is that creature next to the owl?" Makoto asked, unsure about the cryptic drawing.

"That's Vivian-senpai's beautiful drawing of a thumbs up," Shū chirped. "...or at least I _think_ that's what this is supposed to be."

Makoto turned the book around but the different angle didn't help in deciphering the blob. "...She really can't draw anything but owls."

"Did you only realize that now? Your idolisation of her made you a little blind for her faults," Shūsaku teased him.

Makoto blushed a little. "I did not idolise her! And maybe I was too traumatized by her cooking to notice anything else off." He shuddered in remembrance.

"Right. Her cooking _looked_ very good…"

"...But the taste was horrible. Remember that one time when she made us gyoza?"

"..." Shūsaku blanched. He had been sick for five days after eating it.

Makoto nodded sombrely. "How she could eat her own food with a straight face and without getting sick afterwards will forever remain a mystery to me."

"There you are, Makoto, Shūsaku! We've been searching for you," Inoue Rika, a blonde girl with two pigtails, exclaimed after spotting them. "Wow, the heat is even worse up here." She wiped a few sweat drops from her forehead. A petite girl with short reddish hair and glasses and a tall boy with a stoic expression on his face were following her.

"Were you thinking about that senpai of yours again, Makoto?" Rika asked as she joined them.

"No," Makoto answered at the same time Shū said, "Yes."

Makoto sighed and conceded, "I want to search for her."

"I'm sure you can do it, Makoto-kun," Endō Yayoi cheered for him.

"Yeah, but not without us," Kagiyama Tarō nodded in agreement.

"We can't let the bloodsuckers have you, can we?" Rika added. They had met Makoto and Shūsaku on the journey to Shibuya, when they were fleeing from Nagoya and the vampires.

"That's right. We're all going to help you search for her," Shūsaku declared.

Makoto would never admit it, but he was almost moved to tears at his friends' support. "Only if you can keep up with me," he told them with a wide grin while his hand went up to the sturdy blue hair tie that still held his hair up in a ponytail.

* * *

 **Wakayama, Wakayama Prefecture, August, 2017**

In the past weeks I had continuously been on patrol duty. At first with René and Lacus, who showed me all of the routes and entrances to Sanguinem, then with other city guards. Hilda Lindström, a common vampire, was my guard partner more often than not. She was a quiet individual who didn't like small talk and kept to herself.

I wasn't sure whether I liked the quiet while being on patrol. Maybe I was already too used to Lacus' chattering. Anyway, I learned to use my new sword more proficiently thanks to Niall's training and using it on Horsemen.

I used the free days Krul had granted me to search for my two younger friends, starting at the places I had visited with them or that they had visited or mentioned in the past.

Mika had repeatedly assured me that it was fine if I left him alone for one and a half days every week, saying that he didn't mind it, though I still felt bad about it. He'd asked me to keep an eye out for Yū as well, probably to make me feel less guilty about it. It had the opposite effect because I already knew where Yū was and hadn't told Mika about it yet. Nor did I plan to.

Because if I did, things might change for the worse, and the two boys might not meet at all like in canon. If Mika left the vampires anytime soon, there was no telling what could happen to him. If he went to Shibuya right now...

No, I didn't even want to imagine what the soldiers of the Demon Army might do to him if he wasn't killed by them on sight first.

Maybe it was selfish not to tell him about what I knew, because I didn't want to risk messing things up, or his well-being, but I continued to keep Yū's whereabouts a secret even if I felt really shitty about it.

My search for Makoto and Shūsaku had been fruitless so far though I'd spotted several scouts from the Demon Army, or groups of children in the Kansai region, that I reported to Krul. I had only been at it for over a month, so it was expected that I wouldn't find my friends this soon, but it was frustrating nonetheless.

I hadn't seen Shinya yet either even though I stopped by in Tōkyō every Friday I got off from guard duty. I hoped that he still visited my former home despite figuring out that something was going on with the Demon Army and me. I believed that he had made the right conclusions because my friend was that perceptive.

Hopefully, Shinya was also smart enough to check the place from a distance, like me. A squad of soldiers from the Demon Army were always in the vicinity and seemed to keep an eye on the apartment building, possibly to capture me if I returned.

It was ironic that their target was watching them instead and was essentially doing the same. With the difference that I was waiting for Shinya to show up.

At the moment I was on a mission with Lacus and René. Together with several more guards we were fetching children, who had been spotted by another scout, from the city of Wakayama. I had parted from the two city guards in our search, so I was walking alone through the abandoned streets.

Thanks to the UV-protection guard on the left side of my white cloak and white bolero jacket underneath, the toxin that was created by my body when I was exposed to sunlight was neutralised and the sunlight didn't burn me to a crisp. It also made me feel as strong as during the night. The sunlight seemed less harsh on my eyes and I didn't even feel a little drowsy during the day while I was wearing the guard.

However, a dim uneasiness remained; a feeling as if the sun was trying to erase my presence from this world. That sensation was slightly worse in the morning sun.

Perhaps this was the reason why vampires preferred to sleep in coffins during the morning or day even if they had UV-protective guards, and why they disdained sunlight in general. Apart from that uneasiness and dislike of sunlight, there was hardly a difference between day and night to me, though.

As soon as we'd left the helicopter, Lacus had promptly attacked the first human – a girl that couldn't be older than eleven – we came across and had drunk her dry before I could even comprehend what was going on. René had claimed the next child as his drink, but had at least not killed the girl he drunk from. Still, it had been a close call.

Maybe I should have been prepared to see something like that happen right in front of my eyes, but it still came as a shock when Lacus killed a child so casually, just like I'd seen it on a TV screen before.

And I felt disgusted that my own thirst for human blood had been stirred by it. It was sickening.

If that had been Makoto or Shū, however, I would have killed Lacus right on the spot, no matter the consequences. While I still had to suppress the urge to kill the other vampire, and felt rather bad for the child and leaving its corpse out on the street, I knew I couldn't afford to act upon my desire at the moment. Not if I wanted to see my friends again anytime soon.

If I killed Lacus or any of the other guards, Krul might lose her trust in me and I would certainly be punished for it. Who knew what my punishment would be? Maybe I would be grounded... or worse. It was selfish, but I didn't want to waste more time that I could spend searching for my younger friends instead.

So, I swallowed down my ire, suppressed my guilty conscience, and separated from the other guards, pretending that I was looking out for humans in another direction. It was a cowardly escape. But at the same time it was a relief that I could still feel somewhat guilty.

More of the children, that had noticed our arrival via military helicopter, were trying to run away from the vampires, but had no chance. A human couldn't outrun a vampire. It would have been better if they'd stayed hidden somewhere. At least then they would have had a chance to be overlooked. They were too loud out here when they were running; any vampire could find them.

Due to my enhanced hearing their cries of horror and calls for help reached my ears even streets away. It reminded me of how I'd been captured and of what I'd heard in that experimentation facility. I wanted to be anywhere but here and didn't want to be a part of this, but I had no other choice.

Unfortunately, the noise of shoes on asphalt got louder and louder. A child was approaching my position at the edge of the city. I spotted the boy as soon as he ran around the corner, right onto the street where I was standing in the shadow of a building.

His eyes widened in fear when he saw me, and he came to a quick halt.

"Look at that – a livestock of my favourite kind. I'm lucky today," Lacus voice came from the direction of the street the boy had emerged from. Would the guard kill this boy, too?

I had only a fraction of a second to decide what I should do. Maybe Lacus wouldn't kill the child this time because he had already drunk some blood earlier, but did I really want to risk it? Did I really want to see another child die in front of my eyes?

Not really. There was just one way to prevent it.

Before the other vampire could take another step toward the boy, I was right behind the thirteen-year-old and placed a hand on his shoulder. I glared at Lacus.

"This one is mine. I spotted him first." Treating a human like an object even if it was to protect him left an unpleasant feeling in my chest.

"Oh, really?"

"Yes. You already had your fill."

The boy shivered under my touch and was struggling to get away from my hold, or at least I thought he did because of his motions, but I couldn't really feel much of a resistance.

"No! Please don't kill me!" the boy cried fearfully.

"Geez, fine. You can have it," Lacus said, completely ignoring the child's cries. "We only get to drink directly from the source while we're outside, so you should savour it."

"..."

Against my hope that the violet-haired vampire would leave us now, so I could skip the blood-sucking part, he apparently decided to wait for me.

"You should hurry up, Vivi, we're going to return soon," he advised me. Shit, now I would have to go through with it.

Tears were trailing down the boy's cheeks by now and I could hear his erratic heartbeat as he looked up at me with pleading eyes. "N-no! Please d-don't! Please!"

This was even worse than what I had done in Sanguinem...

I crouched down to the young teen's eye level and ascertained him with a soft but guilty look, "I won't kill you. I'll just take some of your blood."

"N-no!"

Before the situation could get any worse, I decided to quickly get it over with and sunk my fangs into the boy's exposed neck while put my hands on his shoulders to keep him in place.

As I began sucking his blood, I noted that it was even better than the last time I'd drunk blood from the source. The fresh, hot blood tasted irresistibly delicious... Had it always been this delectable?

While I was lost in pleasure, the boy's heartbeat was growing weaker and his blood was becoming even tastier as a result. Thankfully, I remembered at some point that I had to stop drinking soon if I didn't want to kill him even if my body was urging me to drink him dry.

It was harder to stop than I'd like to admit, but the images of my human friends in the back of my mind made me able to cease my action. What would they think of me if they could see me now?

Surely, they would be repulsed. With that thought in mind, I drank the last gulp of blood and removed my fangs from the boy's neck.

He was unsteady on his feet and dazed due to the blood loss and bite when I loosened my hold on him. I quickly covered the two circular marks I'd caused and the blood that was trickling from them with the fabric of his shirt and jacket.

It was one thing to smell human blood, but another to see it – it made it even harder for a vampire to resist it. And perhaps I didn't want to be confronted with what I'd done for the entire flight back. No matter what reasons I had for it, I had forcibly drunk this human's blood, exactly like the other vampires.

When I looked up, I saw that René had joined us. I'd been vaguely aware of it while I was sucking blood, but I'd been too preoccupied with the action to fully register it.

"Are you done here?" he asked me as I took the boy's hand to keep him steady while walking. The kid at my side was silent even though he was crying, probably resigning to his fate of becoming livestock.

God, this was horrible. _I_ was horrible.

Before I answered René, I used my black glove to wipe away some of the leftover blood that was trickling down my chin. "Yes."

"I bet the blood must have been good. It smells heavenly... Maybe I should drink the rest," Lacus commented and eyed the boy with immortal hunger.

I could hear how the kid's pulse accelerated once more because of his fright and pulled him closer to me, almost into my white cloak.

"We are supposed to collect humans on this mission, not to kill them," I stated coldly.

"What does one human matter?" Lacus asked before he smirked at me, "Maybe you just want to keep it and drink the rest yourself?"

"I do not!"

"Despite your noble lineage, your greed still shows through, ex-human," René claimed, only half-serious.

The thirteen-year-old gazed up at me after René had called me ex-human, and his dark eyes were wide in surprise as they met mine. Was the boy searching for a trace or remnant of my humanity?

A saddened look was my only response. "Let's return to Sanguinem."

The small glimmer of hope in the boy's eyes died at my words.

* * *

In the corridor of Krul's palace I met Mika and promptly engulfed him in a hug.

"Welcome back, Vivi-nee. How was your first mission?"

"Awful," I mumbled and hugged him tighter. This time Mika didn't protest, sensing that I was distressed.

"Do you want to talk with me about it?"

* * *

I was more than relieved when I didn't have to collect humans on my next mission in September. An outpost in Hachiōji, that was about forty kilometres west of Shinjuku, hadn't reported back to Krul in over four weeks, so she sent a group of eight vampires, including René, Lacus and me, to investigate.

We took a smaller helicopter this time and left in the afternoon, so we would arrive around three hours later in Hachiōji, when it was already dark. René was the pilot while I was the co-pilot to get more practise.

During my training period René had drilled it into my head how a helicopter worked and how I had to fly it, even though this was my first real flight.

Apart from the noise the helicopter made it was pretty quiet otherwise. Most vampires weren't very talkative. The exception was a certain violet-haired city guard. Lacus attempted to start a conversation a few times, but I concentrated on flying more than anything and wasn't in the mood for a chat.

It remained that way until we were right above Hachiōji. An odd sound came from outside.

"René? What is that strange noise? Is something wrong with the helicopter?" I immediately asked the other vampire, who then looked at me in question and concentrated on his hearing.

There was a hint of surprise on his features before he steered the helicopter in an abrupt motion to the side.

Still, it was too late. The underside of the helicopter was hit with something and warnings began to blare as we lost altitude.

"Everyone, prepare for combat! We have been hit and might encounter enemies," René raised his voice.

"Oh, looks like something interesting is finally going to happen. Who would have thought that humans are ballsy enough to shoot us from the sky," Lacus wasn't very concerned.

I should probably feel more worried, too, but my absent heartbeat made it hard to panic, or that was what I told myself. I felt more excited than scared. Even as a human I'd liked drop towers or roller coasters though I was rather afraid of the haunted houses or tunnels of horror. A plummeting helicopter was hardly the same, but I knew that I was able to survive a crash. Perhaps this was the famed vampire arrogance.

I spotted a group of soldiers in black uniforms on a rooftop and watched them as they shot another barrage of arrows at our vehicle. It was a relief that Shinya wasn't among them. René once more avoided most of them and told me to open fire, so I pressed the buttons once we were facing the soldiers of the Demon Army.

Two were hit by the bullets of our helicopter and died on the spot, but the rest only got injured or managed to get out of the way just in time. Before we could change our position and aim for them once more, I heard the whirring sound from behind as well.

"They're shooting from the other side, too!" I warned René, but this time the helicopter was too slow to evade the attack because it was already damaged.

"We are abandoning the helicopter. Amandine, Shaw, Hendrik, Kuzman, you subdue the humans and get information from them concerning why they are here and why they dared to attack us. Karl, you come with us to investigate our outpost," René instructed the others, who then jumped out of the door only moments before we were hit again and explosions wrecked the helicopter.

I kicked out the front window and jumped out of the thing only moments before the fire could get to me. Being burned would probably not feel very nice. Behind me in the air I saw Lacus and René and another vampire, who'd left the helicopter just in time before it crashed into a building and exploded.

However, while were falling to the ground and unable to change our direction, the human archers aimed at us once more. I avoided getting hit by the arrows, that were rather slow in my eyes, by either catching them in the air or defending myself with my sword. Lacus and René managed to do the same with their weapons though the vampire named Karl was too slow to repel all of the arrows and was hit on his shoulder.

There was a small impact crater were I landed, but my legs and body absorbed the fall from the sky just fine. The two other city guards landed as well and took cover with me in a side alley, but there was no sign of Karl apart from a white cloak and ashes that were being blown away by the wind. He must have been hit in the head or heart by another enchanted arrow.

I was oddly unconcerned about his death, just like with the human soldiers I'd just shot. They knew what they were getting into by attacking us and were no innocent children I still had a soft spot for. It was either them or me out here.

While it was doubtful that these were the soldiers who had abducted me more than four years prior, these men were also part of the Demon Army that I wanted to destroy, and I couldn't bring myself to care about their deaths or feel remorse for killing them.

However, I also didn't feel satisfied like I thought I would because at least these soldiers would be unable to kidnap children and use them for their sick experiments.

I didn't feel a thing at all.

Shinya and his friends – if they were part of the military – as well as the future Shinoa squad were the only people from the Demon Army that I would spare.

"These humans seem to be able to kill vampires," René said.

"Never thought Karl would die like that. Getting killed by livestock is quite pathetic," Lacus commented.

"This is the Japanese Imperial Demon Army I've told you about. Their weapons can kill vampires and they are much stronger than the average human," I warned them.

"So it might be possible that they have annihilated our outpost?" René guessed, sounding more than a little incredulous at the idea.

"No way. There were twenty guards stationed there. As if a group of humans could kill that many vampires," Lacus disagreed.

"They can. The Vampire Extermination Squads should not be underestimated," I stated.

"Seriously?" the violet-haired guard seemed to have troubles with imagining that humans could be a threat to vampires despite witnessing just now how one of us was exterminated.

"In any case, we have to check our outpost and find out what happened to it. That is our first priority," my former teacher said.

"What about the others?" I asked.

Lacus shrugged. "It's their own fault if they die."

"..." No heroes among vampires, huh?

* * *

"Any signs of the three bloodsuckers that escaped us?" Corporal Kawaguchi of the Vampire Extermination Unit, Second Platoon, asked his second-in-command.

"No, sir. They haven't been seen after they disappeared in a side alley." Unlike the other group of four vampires, who had entered one of the buildings they'd prepared with traps beforehand and fell right into them, the group of three had vanished.

"Hmm. It's possible that they abandoned the other ones. Those creatures feel no loyalty towards each other."

However, as soon as he had said this, a loud noise let Corporal Kawaguchi turn to the building where the second group with their vampire prisoners – the research facility in Shibuya was in need for more vampires to experiment on – was stationed. Several more blows of some kind of red energy wave, that illuminated the night with an eerie glow, struck a side of the building with the concentrated force of a small bomb.

In the next moment, screams and pained cries reached the rooftop a part of Kawaguchi's platoon and the corporal himself were standing on. He couldn't look through his pair of night vision goggles fast enough. Clouds of dust obstructed his view, but he could see two shapes in white cloaks taking down his men on the other building.

No, there were three of them.

There was a third figure that moved and slew his men even faster than the two other vampires. He could hardly see it because of its speed. Corporal Kawaguchi's heartbeat accelerated and dread began to pool in his stomach as he realised what they were up against.

He swallowed hard before he yelled, "A vampire noble! There might be a vampire noble among them! Men, prepare for battle!"

"Corporal, can we take on a noble?" Private Tanaka questioned him fearfully as he moved into a defensive position.

Kawaguchi clenched his teeth and didn't answer. The screams and sounds of battle on the other rooftop ceased in a matter of seconds. The corporal saw his men on the ground as the dust lifted, but he couldn't spot the vampires.

"There!" one of his men yelled and pointed at the three figures that were approaching them quickly. They were jumping over the other rooftops to get to them. The traps that had been set up inside the building were useless.

"Archers! Fire!" Corporal Kawaguchi commanded and his men followed his instruction. However, they weren't able to hit the vampires with their arrows, and one of the creatures sent a powerful red energy wave with their sword their way in response, destroying many of the arrows.

Several of his men were hit by the attack as well, and so was the roof, which sent up a cloud of dust and debris everywhere. The vampires used this to their advantage when they landed on the roof. Thanks to their advanced senses they could still locate the humans.

The sounds of battle ensued as the three inhuman creatures attacked the other half of the platoon. Kawaguchi barely had enough time to bring up his own sword before he was beheaded by a halberd. He struggled against the overwhelming power of a smirking vampire with lilac hair. The creature cut him up in several places while they were battling each other.

"Careful, Lacus, that one seems to be a higher ranking officer," the voice of a young woman came from inside the cloud of dust.

A few seconds later Kawaguchi saw the female vampire who had spoken step out of it at a languid pace and flick blood from her sword before she sheathed it. It was the blood of his men. It also clung to her face and lips, that she licked free of it. Unfortunately, this moment of distraction became the soldier's downfall.

He was overwhelmed by the male vampire and lost his sword. Then his opponent grabbed him and held the corporal up by his neck. As the hand around his neck tightened and it became harder to breathe, Kawaguchi wondered if these empty red eyes in front of him were the last thing he would see before he ran out of air and died.

"Eh? Really? He doesn't seem like much to me."

"Keep him alive, Lacus. We need him for interrogation. Vivian killed most of the other humans," said a black-haired vampire in a bland tone as he joined them.

"What? You fatally wounded your opponents, too, René. And so did Lacus," the youthful-looking female retorted indignantly.

"One of _my_ humans is still alive." Kawaguchi's captor waved said human around in his hold to emphasize his words.

"Not for much longer if you don't let him breathe," the blonde said drily.

"Oh, right. Livestock need air." The vampire's hold on the soldier's neck loosened.

The human crashed to the ground and rolled away, gasping for air. The cloud of dust was finally blown away by a gust of strong wind, and the light of the waning moon revealed several dark shapes on the ground, that was splattered with blood.

All of his men were either dead or in the process of dying. Kawaguchi's gaze wandered to the three monsters that had attacked them.

The three vampires wore the typical vampire uniform, so the corporal suspected that neither of them was a noble, but they still had been powerful enough to kill all of his men, even if none of them had high-ranked enchanted gear. Then he spotted something on the female vampire's ears that gleamed in the moonlight.

She was wearing diamond earrings in the shape of snowflakes. He'd never seen a common vampire wear something like that. He doubted they would. Maybe _that_ beast was a noble in disguise?

The male creature with black hair and a sword in his hand tilted his head toward Kawaguchi, his red eyes lightly gleaming in the dark. "Human, were you the ones who killed the vampires in this area?"

"I will tell you monsters nothing!" Corporal Kawaguchi yelled in defiance. These bloodsucking monsters would get nothing out of him! For humanity's sake the vampires absolutely mustn't find out what the Demon Army was planning.

Kawaguchi was a proud soldier of the Japanese Imperial Demon Army and loyal to the Hiiragi family. He steeled his resolve not to reveal anything to his enemy, no matter how much they tortured him.

The blonde vampire blinked unimpressed at his answer and nonchalantly turned to the other ones, all of them apparently ignoring the human soldier now, which mystified him. Did they not want to torture him for information?

"Do you know what could be of interest for the humans in this city?" she asked her companions.

"Supplies?" the lilac-haired vampire with the halberd guessed.

"There should be enough left in the closer area of Tōkyō," the other male disagreed.

"Maybe it's not this city in particular that is important? There might be something interesting in the surrounding area, a reason why the humans would need to take down the vampires in this city first," the female monster was getting dangerously close to the truth.

Kawaguchi's heartbeat sped up. Were they distracted enough to make him launch a surprise attack at them before they figured it out? His sword was lying several meters away, but perhaps he could activate explosive _fuda_ to buy some time.

As fast as he could, the corporal drew his enchanted papers and aimed them at the vampire who was closest to him – the blonde one. She defended herself with her sword and was completely unharmed when the dust of the explosion settled. Kawaguchi had used this moment to make a grab for his enchanted gear.

Faster than his eyes could see, the vampiress's sword met his weapon with such brutal force that Corporal Kawaguchi immediately broke a few bones in his hand and wrist and lost the grip on his sword before he fell onto his behind with a pained cry.

He stared up at her with wide eyes. Who exactly was this freakishly strong monster?!

"...The Yokota Air Base lies just eleven kilometres north of Hachiōji," the black-haired beast in human form said, completely unperturbed by the soldier's failed escape attempt, though he seemed to lift a brow at the female's actions.

Kawaguchi's breathing stopped for the fraction of a second and his heartbeat quickened, yet he did his best to remain impassive as he cradled his injured hand to his body. Unfortunately for him, someone had been observing his reactions quite closely.

"Did you hear how the human's heartbeat sped up at the mention of the air base and how his breathing faltered? I believe you hit the nail right on the head, René," the she-devil said.

Corporal Kawaguchi's heart almost stopped. The vampires had figured out the Demon Army's plans because he couldn't suppress all of his physical reactions...! Had they been counting on that all along?

The blonde creature grinned spitefully at the soldier, as if she had read his thoughts. Or maybe she had just heard his heartbeat falter again.

"Hmm. It does make sense to take out the guards in Hachiōji first, so they won't be able to support the other guards at the Yokota Air Base in case of an emergency," the violet-haired bloodsucker agreed. "Maybe the livestock isn't as stupid as I thought."

"See, I told you that humans mustn't be underestimated, especially the greedy ones from the Demon Army," the female stated, giving the other vampires a haughty look.

The black-haired beast grabbed Kawaguchi by his arm and hauled him up onto his feet.

"Don't touch me, leech!" the human growled, but the vampire didn't care about his emotional outburst.

"We are taking this human with us for further questioning. We'll use an air craft from the air base to return to headquarters. That way we can also warn the guards there."

Corporal Kawaguchi knew that hell was awaiting him as he struggled futilely against the bruising hold of the vampire.

* * *

"Why did you call for me, Ferid-kun?" Crowley Eusford strolled into the pompous and completely unnecessary dining room of Ferid's mansion. Once again he had come to Sanguinem by request of the silver-haired vampire.

Ferid was sitting at the head of the long dining table with a smile on his face. A glass with a young child's blood stood in front of him and next to it lied some papers. The sight and smell of blood made Crowley immediately crave it.

"I did~? Are you sure, Crowley-kun? I don't remember calling for you~."

Crowley sighed in mild exasperation, already done with Ferid's exhausting antics. "This again? Tell me what you called me here for, Ferid, or I'll return to Nagoya right this instant."

"Hmm... Maybe I did call for you? What was it again~?" Ferid pretended to have difficulties with remembering it, although both of them knew that vampires had an impeccable memory.

"I'm still waiting."

"Did you know that I simply love surprises, my dear Crowley-kun?"

Crowley blinked, wondering where the other vampire was going with this. "Are you talking about that poor kid you drew the map for? Did he do something spectacular after you killed almost all of his friends in front of him?" the redhead asked.

"Actually, no. This is not about my plans concerning my precious Mika-kun, but someone else…" Ferid trailed off.

Crowley furrowed his brows. So Ferid had found a new victim to get rid of his boredom? "Who is this mysterious person that has caught your interest?"

Ferid promptly shoved the sheets of paper that had been lying in front of him into Crowley's hands. "Read this."

"It's written in Japanese..." the Thirteenth Progenitor complained after looking over it. It was bothersome to read the kanji, but Crowley did it nonetheless.

The picture of a human girl in school uniform, who appeared to be around fourteen or fifteen years old at most, was attached to it. She had blonde hair and a few freckles. Her eyes were dark, almost black in colour, and seemed too mature to belong to a girl that age. Despite her hair colour, her features didn't look completely Caucasian either.

In the past Ferid would have made a child with such unusual features definitely part of his child harem. He had a penchant for the blood of pretty boys and girls. But the girl's appearance couldn't be Ferid's sole interest.

Crowley needed a few moments to decipher the rest of the files and the few handwritten documents. "…What is this, Ferid? Did the humans succeed in the Seraph of the End Project? Have they turned this girl into one?" he inquired and Ferid smiled in response.

"Intriguing, isn't it?" the Seventh Progenitor remained cryptic, much to Crowley's annoyance.

"Why hasn't the Progenitor Council sent out a group to dispatch the experiment?"

"Because it's already dead now and dear Krul has done everything in her power to silence those who know about it."

Well, that obviously didn't include Ferid. In what kind of scheme did he want to involve Crowley this time?

"...If it's already been dealt with, why are you telling me about it now? You usually don't bother to tell me anything," the Thirteenth Progenitor wondered.

"That's not true~! Haven't I taught you a lot in the past eight hundred years?"

"Will you tell me why you turned me into an undying monster then and for what kind of plans you need me?"

Ferid grinned enigmatically, like always whenever Crowley asked these particular questions. "Not yet, but it won't take much longer until I'll explain everything to you. And just because the girl is dead, it doesn't mean that she's not alive anymore."

Of course, Ferid wouldn't just answer the questions Crowley has been asking him for hundreds of years. And what did he mean with the girl being dead yet alive? Surely, it couldn't be...

"Um, being dead and alive kind of contradicts itself, Ferid-kun. Or are you trying to tell me that she's been turned into a vampire?"

"Bingo~. I knew you would figure it out~! After all, aren't we alive despite our hearts being long dead?"

"..." Crowley agreed in silence. "So, who turned the girl? Did you?"

Ferid made a dismissive gesture with his hand. "You know that I'm not morbid enough to spread my curse."

"And yet you turned _me_ into a vampire," Crowley retorted.

"Aha ha, but it wasn't _my_ blood that turned you into a monster."

"It's still your fault I can't die." Ferid had shoved that vial of vampire blood into Crowley's mouth and ended his human life.

"Come on, don't be like that, Crowley-kun~. Are you still mad about that? Didn't we have looots of fun together in the past centuries?"

"Are you seriously asking me this right now?" the redhead sighed. "Just tell me about the girl. Did Third Progenitor Krul Tepes turn her?"

It would explain why she went to such lengths to keep the human experiment a secret. The question was why the queen would do so. What use did the girl have to the queen? And did the girl still have some of her seraph abilities even as a vampire?

Ferid smiled in that infuriating way of his. "Why don't you find out by yourself?"

Crowley felt a small surge of irritation well up in him, but it was fleeting. "Why did you really summon me, Ferid?"

Ferid grabbed the glass with blood and swirled the red liquid in it before he took a sip from it. "The girl just became a city guard and has already earned herself a first-class weapon after training for less than six months."

"So she's somewhat capable in combat... and?"

What exactly did Ferid want her for? Did he want to use her seraph powers?

"Did you not read her school file? And I went to such lengths to get it~!"

Crowley once more read over the files and her grades. "...She seems to be rather smart." The girl called Vivian Kido had nearly perfect grades in every subject apart from Home Economics. She had to be bad at cooking then. Not that she needed the skill as a vampire.

Vivian had also won some kind of music competition, so Crowley guessed that she was good at playing and instrument as well. In addition, the girl had been a member of a kendō club and had participated in national kendō competitions, so she must have had some talent for swordplay even as a human.

It would explain why she'd already earned herself a first-class weapon.

Why would someone like her become part of an experiment with a low chance of success, though? It was a waste of resources. Wouldn't it have been better to add her to the human army and have her fight against vampires if she already knew how to wield a weapon?

Crowley couldn't understand the motives of the Japanese Imperial Demon Army, and he wondered if these skills of hers were another reason why she was turned into a vampire.

Ferid smiled enigmatically. "And she stopped ageing at the age I find most beautiful. Just barely, anyway~!"

Crowley looked at the birth date and did the math. "Your tastes are as lewd as ever, Ferid-kun."

"Ha ha! And? Have I made you interested in her?"

"Maybe. What should I do with the girl?" Something to alleviate his eternal boredom was always welcome, although she might be trouble considering her connection to the forbidden Seraph of the End project.

"Seduce her with your masculine charms and make her join our side~!" Ferid joked, making Crowley lift a brow.

So he wanted her on their side?

"I'm afraid she is a little too young for my taste," Crowley joked back. They both knew that vampires didn't have any sexual desire, and that they only lusted for human blood, so this whole conversation was meaningless. "There is only one pervert here."

Ferid smiled brightly. "You're speaking about yourself, aren't you?"

"Nope, I'm certainly not."

"Ha ha. Well, if you want to get to know her, now is the perfect opportunity, Crowley-kun~!" the silver-haired vampire continued. "Vivi-chan just received a mission to collect a group of livestock that has been spotted in the city of Takayama in the Gifu prefecture. It starts tomorrow night."

"You want me to keep an eye on her and get close to her, don't you?" Crowley concluded.

"I think you two could become reaaally good friends~!" the Seventh Progenitor said with a fake, cheery smile. "You see, she reminds me of yourself back when you were human, even though she is a little more... fierce."

"She also seems to like me even less than you did and doesn't want to be my friend," Ferid feigned to be sad. "Vivi-chan won't stop glaring at me even though I've been nothing but a gentleman in her presence~!"

"Really?" the thought faintly amused Crowley. He doubted that Ferid had been a gentleman, though. "Clever girl."

' _If Ferid wants me to keep an eye on her, she truly must be highly intriguing or important for his schemes,'_ the Thirteenth Progenitor thought to himself, almost feeling sorry for the girl because she had attracted Ferid's attention. That was never a good thing as Crowley knew from his own experience.

He had ended up as a vampire because Ferid needed him for his schemes.

* * *

 **A/N:** Ah, it was so much fun to write this chapter with the many different perspectives, especially the part with Crowley and Ferid~. I love these two and hope I kept them IC. I also hope you enjoyed reading the chapter as well! As always, thank you for reading, following and favouriting my story! Your reviews are highly appreciated :) !

On another note, I've been writing a CrowleyxTimetraveller!OC story that takes place in Crowley's human past (in the Vampire Mikaela LN) and am wondering if you would be interested in reading that story, too, once I'm done with it.


	17. New Acquaintances

****Disclaimer** :** I don't own Owari no Seraph, its plot or characters, or any other mentioned books, songs, or series. They belong to their respective owners. I only own my OCs and the plot that deviates from canon or doesn't exist in canon. This is a non-profit fan fiction just for fun.

* * *

 _ **NguyetMieu:**_ Okay, thanks for the explanation! Yep, Mako-chan isn't giving up on his friends that fast! Huehuehue, but I won't tell what I've planned for him and his team, you'll have to read about it in a future chapter ;) I'm glad you liked the gory parts about being a vampire – I feel really awkward when writing them (lol) but not mentioning them would be boring and detract from the realism of the story I'm trying to convey, I think.

Yes, Shinya knows that something's up and is subtly investigating, but he doesn't know what exactly Vivian has to do with the JIDA just yet. The reason why Vivian doesn't mention Makoto's squad on the list of people she won't kill is simple: she didn't watch the second season of _Owari no Seraph_ and didn't read the manga, so she doesn't know about Makoto's squad. I think we both know whether she'll spare his friends or not :D

Haha, I understand if a CrowleyxOC story isn't your cup of tea. Thanks for the answer, though. That part with Ferid turning Crowley for his own plans was from the Vampire Mikaela light novel.

 _ **To my guest reviewer from Oct 14:**_ Once again, good thinking! Progenitors can wear customized outfits, but as Vivian is just an unranked noble she might not be granted the same privilege. In my original version she had a customized outfit, but I changed that. Now she'll either continue to wear the guard uniform, or she will be allowed to make slight alterations to it, depending on what I decide for the final edit. Or maybe I should let you readers decide?

 _ **To Argentum Auream:**_ Wow, thank you for taking the time to write such a long critique and for really thinking about the plot of this story and questioning Vivian's actions/mindset! I've taken your thoughts and questions into consideration and appreciate them. Some of the things you've criticised (Vivian threatening the teens to behave properly, killing the footsoldiers etc.) will be cleared up in future chapters. Vivian's thoughts about her mission will be brought up in this one, too. The previous chapter would have otherwise become too long if I'd mentioned it there, and I wanted to cut it there.

I guess some of my other readers might have the same concerns and questions as you, so I will give you some straight answers.

Will Vivian forget that girl's death? No. Will she avoid thinking about it? Hell yes. Why? Because that's just how she deals with a lot of things that disturb her, as you might have noticed before. Will Vivian mourn Lacus' death? xD Definitely not. Will I make this completely AU? No, because there is too much that Vivian just can't influence with her presence and very limited knowledge, but there **will** be some canon divergence. I think I've said that at the beginning of the first chapter.

As for Vivian being a selfish hypocrite... what's wrong with that? My OC was supposed to be **precisely **that way. I'm actually very happy you were able to recognise that and called Vivian out on her reasoning and BS justifications.

I didn't want my OC to be a Mary Sue (I actually feared someone would say that she was one) who is flawless and perfect in every way, and who saves the day and always does the 'right' thing or what we perceive as right. I _wanted_ her to be a **grey** or even **antagonistic character** who struggles with her own decisions/actions and constantly tries to self-exulpate. And, of course, her thinking is flawed because of this, _purposely_ so.

If you thought that Vivian is a 'good' protagonist, then I'm sorry to disappoint you, because no, she is not and was never supposed to be one. She _tries_ to be 'good' and does what _she_ perceives as 'right', which might vastly differ from _your_ definition of what's 'good', 'right' or a 'decent person'.

How do you define what makes someone a monster and what is good or bad? It probably depends on your upbringing, _experiences_ , rules, and the society/social circles you are part of or grew up in.

Vivian might seem healed or fine now, but she is _not_. Don't forget that she went through horrible, **traumatising** experiences in a research facility through the hands of humans. Trauma changes people and everyone handles it differently. Maybe you would think and act differently if you were in Vivian's shoes, and that's perfectly fine, but this is about how she behaves and thinks.

So, from our point of view, Vivian might not always think rationally, make perfect sense, or behave like a 'decent human being'. In my opinion, she wouldn't have been a realistic character if she didn't change for better or worse and had some character development into a darker direction.

And for the killing people left or right (lol) _just_ because they wear the JIDA uniform or are attacking her... Well, if Vivian's reasons and thoughts about JIDA soldiers weren't made clear in the previous chapters or in my explanation in the previous paragraphs, then I probably suck at explaining things xD Sure, she could have tried to knock them out, but there wouldn't have been a point to it considering what her goals are.

Vivian also knows that there is a life after death, so she is aware that the people she kills won't stay dead permanently and will have another life in a world far away from her. Killing the soldiers merely gets them out of her sight. Anyway, you'll get more insight on Vivian's thought process during that mission in this chapter.

The conflict between what is good and evil and Vivian's struggle with it is supposed to be a major theme in my story because I think it fits well into the _Owari no Seraph_ series. Don't know if that came across yet. This is my first written story ever, so it's far from perfect despite my efforts.

What exactly is the point of my protagonist if, ultimately, she behaves as just another character of Seraph of the End? That **is** exactly the point. **Vivian is not here to save the day. This is just the story of a selfish, reborn woman trying to do what's right in her opinion and trying to be with her loved ones, no matter what it takes.**

In any case, I hope I've cleared things up/will get further cleared up in this chapter.

I understand if a grey or antagonistic OC with questionable morals and flimsy excuses and justifications for her behaviour is not your cup of tea and if you are disappointed with how things are going or turned out, but I won't change it. Maybe my original version of this story and Vivian would have been more to your liking – she was more of a goody two-shoes in that, but I personally thought she was too **unrealistic** in it.

I'm happy you liked my overall writing, though :D

 _ **To**_ _ **Crystal Blue Butterfly:**_ Wow, I'm really happy to hear that reading my other story encouraged you to read _Between Two Worlds_ as well, despite not being familiar with the _Owari no Seraph_ series! That's one of the highest compliments an author can get! I'm glad that you enjoyed my depiction of the emotions and my characters' struggles and my story in general. And thank you for appreciating the effort I've put into this, my dear reader :D _ **  
**_

 _ **To eragon95159,**_ _ **Kara-Fire21, P1anoman2019, Reader, mothedman, Archangel398,**_ _ **Scytherind,**_ **and** _ **RokenDarkly:**_ Thank you so much for your encouraging words and your support! It really means a lot to me and I have to smile every time I read such lovely and kind reviews!

 **A/N:** A big thank you to everyone who took the time to write a review, no matter how short or long, and thanks to everyone who favourited/followed my story or me, and all of my silent readers! Thanks to you _Between Two Worlds_ has almost 20,000 views... that's more reads than my hometown has inhabitans xD

Somehow I ended up updating on my birthday, so this chapter is kind of a reverse present? Anyway, have fun reading! One of my favourite characters of the series is finally meeting Vivian~. I hope I'm doing him justice!

* * *

 **Chapter 17 – New Acquaintances**

After my mission with Lacus and René, Niall was sent to stay permanently at the Yokota Air Base to prevent that the humans would seize it. The base had a lot of military vehicles and weapons that shouldn't get into the hands of the JIDA.

I was a little saddened that my lessons with Niall came to an end even though I'd already learned plenty from him, but Krul needed one of the few high-ranking progenitors in Japan to support the common vampires that were stationed there.

Hachiōji was reinforced with more guards and a noble as well. All guards that had been stationed there had either been killed or transported to a lab for experimentation by the Demon Army before René, Lacus and I arrived.

We'd returned with the human soldier and with two of the surviving guards, Amandine and Hendrik, who we had freed from their bindings. They almost wouldn't have been saved.

René had wanted to retreat and ask for reinforcements instead of fighting the JIDA soldiers, but I had gone ahead and caused a commotion around them in order to free the two captured guards before they were transported to Shibuya.

I couldn't stand the thought that they would be experimented on even if I didn't particularly care about them.

Being stabbed by enchanted swords resulted in a quick death without much suffering, but being experimented on meant that the guards would suffer for years to come, which was worse than death itself if you asked me.

If people died, be they vampires or humans, they would simply be reborn in another world and could start anew, just like me. At least, that was what I firmly believed.

As soon as René and Lacus had registered that the three of us could indeed handle the human soldiers thanks to my overpowered attacks, they'd jumped in to help me.

Probably to ensure that I wouldn't tell Krul that they'd abandoned me on the mission and not because they were concerned for my well-being, but it was better than nothing.

Unlike me Lacus and René hadn't meticulously stabbed or beheaded all their opponents and had only left them with fatal wounds. This meant that the humans would die a slow, agonizing death, which I thought was much more cruel than what I did.

I was mildly concerned that I was able to kill so easily, no matter what reasons and justifications I had for it, but was of the opinion that the swift death I'd delivered to my enemies was merciful.

Oh, I did despise the organisation the soldiers fought for, but that didn't mean I had to prolong the suffering of these foot soldiers that had never personally done something to me.

Kureto, his lackeys, and those scientists, however, would get a special treatment. I would make them go through unimaginable pain for what they'd done to those nameless children and myself, and they wouldn't die until they begged me to kill them.

They would suffer until their last dying breath, just like their human experiments. That way they would hopefully refrain from repeating their actions in their next life even if they didn't remember this one.

Justice would be served.

...Or was it justice? Maybe I'd deluded myself into thinking that. Perhaps it was just for my own self-satisfaction once again.

My personal revenge.

I didn't know anymore. I sometimes didn't know what was right or wrong anymore and that disturbed me.

But not enough to stop what I was doing.

What kind of person had I turned into? I couldn't tell.

When I conversed with Mika about my mission and my thoughts, he was almost as torn as me about it, knowing where I came from. He would have preferred it if I didn't have to kill anyone at all. I didn't want Mika to have to kill anyone either, but a mission was a mission and the JIDA was the enemy I'd vowed to destroy.

I wondered what Shinya would say if he could see me now.

* * *

It wasn't long before I was sent out on another of those hateful 'livestock-fetching' missions, but this time without Lacus or René.

To get more practise with flying the larger helicopter as well, I was once again assigned as one of the pilots.

While I was waiting for the time to pass, I sat at the edge of a rooftop, close to the meeting place for the mission, and peered down into the city, dangling my feet in the air because I could. The mission leader sure was taking his time – I had seen Leonard once or twice at headquarters.

The other guards that were going with me on this mission were waiting at a group of stone benches. If I wanted to, I could have joined them, but none of the present guards really interested me.

Conversing with some vampires was like talking to an emotionless robot that was only interested in blood – plain boring and incredibly dull. I hated myself for thinking this, but even Lacus or Ferid were more interesting conversational partners than most other vampires.

I continued to gaze into the streets of the city in a small daze, until a somehow familiar-looking vampire, who was wearing a different outfit than the city guards, sauntered out of the City Headquarters and approached the waiting group of guards.

The red-haired vampire's clothes and scent screamed noble – vampire nobles had a certain note to their blood, more so when they were older. He was tall and muscular like one of those male underwear models you could see in advertisements before the apocalypse, as well as equally handsome.

If you didn't mind the typical vampiric features, that is.

The noble struck me as familiar even though I was sure I'd never seen him before because I would have definitely remembered him if I did. The deep red hair that ended in a long braid, the uniform and displayed cleavage that showed off the pectoral muscles were rather attention-grabbing.

A certain name came into my mind as I watched the newcomer.

Was this the real-life Crowley Eusford?

Excitement and curiosity welled up in me as I leaned forward to shamelessly ogle the vampire in the white uniform and cape, who had once been a character that I liked. I blamed Himura Kenshin for starting my small obsession with red-haired characters, villain or not.

However, if I had met Crowley when I was a human, I probably would have been torn between being terrified of him or starstruck by him. The noble was devilishly handsome and just as dangerous as he looked.

Hot damn. I would have really liked to meet _him_ as a human.

Remembering that a human Crowley had been depicted on one of the _Owari no Seraph_ light novels, I tried to imagine him with his human appearance and with blue eyes like Shinya.

Shinya had mesmerizing eyes. I could stare into them for the whole day.

The elated ogling and grin was as far as my fangirling went, though. Unfortunately, because I was so occupied with my creepy staring and inner musings, I noticed too late that Crowley had sensed my stare and was now looking back at me with a small smile on his face.

Well, this was awkward...

I felt slightly embarrassed about getting caught and quickly turned away, pretending that I hadn't just mustered him from top to bottom like a total creep.

Thankfully, he turned back to the group of guards, that had stood up to not be impolite towards a progenitor, but I swore that his smile had widened.

"Lord Crowley Eusford."

"Thirteenth Progenitor," they greeted him politely with a hand over their unbeating hearts.

"A guard named Leonard was supposed to be your mission leader today, but due to certain circumstances, I'll be his replacement," Crowley came straight to the point.

I wondered what these circumstances were.

"As it said on the mission description, we're going to fetch some livestock in a small city, formerly known as Takayama, and deliver the cattle to our bases at the Yokota Air Base and Hachiōji. You're allowed to drink from the livestock, but try not to kill too many of them. I don't want to turn up in the other territories with nothing," he said in a casual, unconcerned tone.

Hearing him call humans livestock in the anime was one thing but hearing Crowley talk about humans that way in real life was another. I was slightly disappointed that he was just like the other vampires in that aspect, despite being aware that this was just how he was supposed to be if everything and everyone apart from me was pretty much like in canon.

But I could hardly call myself better than him or the other vampires at this point; I had done pretty bad, inhuman things from a human point of view during my past missions, too. People who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones...

"That's everything. Our helicopters are on hangar two."

Crowley had briefed and talked to us in English – with a strange British accent that I'd never heard before – so everyone would understand him, and we followed him into the caves and through the white hallway where one of the paths led to the open-air hangars.

The huge military helicopters we were using were already packed with food rations and water bottles for humans, as well as the livestock uniform and those necklaces with electronic ID tags the humans here in Sanguinem wore around their neck.

"Oh, I almost forgot... which of you are the pilots for this mission?" Crowley asked us.

Three other guards spoke up and told him their names. I came last. "I'm Vivian Kido, Lord Eusford."

From this proximity I clearly noticed the difference in height, but it wasn't as big as I had thought at first glance; the top of my head almost reached Crowley's chin.

It put my eye-level directly at his exposed pectoral muscles and... damn, I was staring at them without meaning to. That open collar was hypnotising. I quickly directed my eyes back to his face.

If he had noticed me staring again, he didn't mention it. "Hmm. I feel like flying a helicopter myself today. Won't you be my co-pilot... Vivian?"

All eyes landed on me when Crowley asked me the question, and I wondered why he had chosen _me_ out of everyone to be his co-pilot. Wondered why a progenitor would participate in a livestock-fetching mission of all things.

That couldn't be a coincidence. It was incredibly suspicious – I would never again ignore my gut feeling.

Had Ferid perhaps instructed him to observe me, or had he merely mentioned me in the Thirteenth Progenitor's presence and Crowley became curious about me for some reason?

Well, there was only one way to find out what he was truly after.

"Of course, Lord Eusford." I gave Crowley a friendly smile. "But I have to warn you that I'm still a beginner, and the last time I flew I ended up crashing the helicopter," I added although that hadn't been my fault.

I was simply curious how he would react; some of the other guards didn't look very pleased at my too upbeat proclamation.

Crowley lifted his brow but didn't appear particularly perturbed by my announcement. If anything, it seemed to amuse him.

"It's fine if you call me 'Lord Crowley '. And I'll make sure that you won't crash it this time – we can't have that if we're supposed to transport livestock with it, can we?"

"Yes, that would be problematic, Lord Crowley," I agreed dryly.

"But I kind of want to know how you managed to crash a helicopter before."

"It's less flashy than it sounds, but if you want, I can tell you the story."

With that being said, we entered the helicopters and got ready for the take-off. The roof of the hangar opened and Crowley and I started our helicopter.

Crowley watched me as I pressed the buttons, letting me do the whole process, which made me slightly nervous. But everything went well and we ascended without any complications, the other helicopter following ours.

* * *

We had left the hangar behind us a while ago and were now flying high up in the night sky. After I'd told Crowley the story with the helicopter crash, I decided to ask him why he decided to participate in a livestock-collecting mission.

"I was a little bored, I guess," Crowley shrugged.

"So you hope to experience or see something exciting on this mission, Lord Crowley?"

He glanced at me from the corner of his eyes. "Hmm, well, you could say that."

I narrowed my eyes in suspicion. He didn't mean me with that, did he now? Was I being too paranoid?

"I could always try to crash the helicopter again," I jokingly suggested.

"No crashing the helicopter this time, Vivian," he chastised me in a similar playful tone. "Where does this enthusiasm for destroying aircraft come from?"

"I think one of my colleagues has a bad influence on me – he's a fan of crashing air planes, and I'm young and impressionable." I nodded to myself.

Yes, I was referring to Lacus.

"Uh, I don't think one should call oneself young and impressionable. It makes the whole thing kinda questionable, you know."

"I am innocence personified," I denied, not being serious. I was anything but innocent after what I'd done so far.

Crowley grinned. "Yeah, I doubt that for some reason."

Our following conversation mainly revolved around how to fly the helicopter without crashing it, until we came across some fluffy clouds, and I spotted a familiar shape.

"Wow, it looks like Pikachu..." I blurted without a second thought.

Shinya would have pulled out his phone now to snap a picture of the unusually shaped cloud, like he always did whenever something caught his interest or amused him.

A sigh escaped me as I thought about him again. I really missed my best friend. I wondered what he was doing at the moment while I was going on another despicable human-collecting mission. Even killing soldiers was better than abducting children for their blood.

"Hmm? What is 'Pikachu'?" Crowley asked me.

For a moment I stared at the older vampire in complete disbelief before that turned into mild shock when I realised that he was being serious.

"Pikachu is a yellow, cat-sized mouse with red cheeks and the ability to shoot lightning. It's one of the most well-known Pokemon and pop figures in the world."

"That sounds weird. I've never heard of such a creature, nor this... 'Pokemon'. Is it a Japanese mythological beast?"

I couldn't believe my ears. First Shinya didn't know anything about Pokemon, and now it was Crowley. How could they not have heard of Pokemon while living in Japan?

Well, with Shinya it was most likely his adoptive family's fault that he didn't know about it before I brought it up, but what was Crowley's excuse? Did he live under a rock?

Actually... that was exactly what Crowley did if he had been living in Sanguinem until the day of the apocalypse.

"I'm appalled by your lack of knowledge, Lord Crowley," I stated in a serious tone.

The progenitor blinked. "Eh, really? Is it that important?"

"Yes, it is," I said with conviction, returning his gaze out of crimson eyes.

"Why don't you enlighten me then?"

"Gladly."

And so I gave Crowley Eusford, Thirteenth Progenitor and former Templar Knight, a basic rundown on Pokemon while we were flying two kilometres above ground and were on the way to make humans our blood slaves.

What a fun day.

The concept of the game was strange to Crowley and he couldn't quite understand the purpose of it though he was mildly intrigued. He only knew old school games like board games, dice games, or card games.

I swore to myself that I would introduce him to a Pokemon game later as well as to the digital world of gaming.

Teaching the older generation about modern technology was my never-ending task as a millennial. It seemed that even a modern vampire couldn't escape that fate.

* * *

We flew north-east for some time before changing the direction entirely to north. When we passed over the desolate cities, I once more had to think about my two younger friends, Makoto and Shūsaku, and worried for their well-being.

Wherever they were at the moment, I hoped they were alright. I really needed to find them soon. My search had been fruitless so far.

"Here it is," Crowley said as we flew over Takayama shortly after sunrise.

I wasn't impressed. It looked pretty much the same as all the other abandoned towns I had seen so far.

We landed the helicopter at a place that had been the baseball field of a school almost five years ago.

There was just one point in which the city differed from others.

"There are several Horsemen in the city and the surrounding area, so humans have to be in the vicinity," I concluded.

The Horsemen had been clearly visible from the sky.

"That's right," Crowley agreed.

I helped the other guards to unload some of the supplies for humans before we dispersed to search for them with the time limit being sundown. Four guards stayed by the helicopters and supplies to protect them from approaching Horsemen.

However, I didn't come far before someone placed a large, gloved hand on my left shoulder.

"Won't you accompany me, Vivian?" Crowley inquired.

My suspicions about his motives grew stronger, but I also wanted to get to know the noble. And my questions would only be answered if I spent some more time with him.

"Sure, Lord Crowley."

* * *

We were striding through a street that had been a shopping district once. Some of the windows and doors had been destroyed, and glass splinters and other rubbish were lying on the street and crunched under our boots.

We continued looking out for any signs of human life until we came across a game store. An idea immediately popped up in mind.

"Would you wait a minute for me, Lord Crowley?"

"Oh, did you find a sign of human life?"

I smirked. "Not quite."

* * *

"What did you take with you?" Crowley asked me the moment I stepped out of the store with a black backpack.

I smiled at him and pulled out the plush I had taken with me, holding it up to him. "Say hello to Pikachu, Lord Crowley~!"

The progenitor gave me an incredulous look. "This... _thing_ is the creature we've talked about?"

"Yep. Isn't it cute?" I petted its head.

Crowley eyed it carefully. "Not really. I think it looks strange."

A scandalised gasp was my response. "How can you look into these innocent, beady black eyes and at these round and charming red cheeks and think that it's anything but cute, Lord Crowley?"

"Rather easily and please don't describe the features of a plush animal with so many adjectives. It's mildly disturbing."

Somehow I liked his _mildly disturbed_ expression and snickered. "I also picked up some games that could be fun," I continued unperturbed. "You're welcome to join a play, Sir."

"...You do remember that we are on a mission, right?"

"Of course. But I think they will be useful later," I said cryptically.

He furrowed his brows slightly. "How?"

"You will see."

"Hmm. I guess I'll have to wait then to find out what you have planned." Then he mumbled more to himself, "...How do I always end up in the company of eccentric people?"

I sure hoped that he didn't compare me to Ferid just now!

After I'd stowed Pikachu away in the bag, we continued walking down one of the streets while the sun was beginning to rise. Historical buildings lined the narrow street – Takyama had been a beautiful, old city with many traditional buildings and temples before the apocalypse. Now, many of them were damaged.

Like always, the rays of the morning sun made me feel a little uncomfortable and want to stay in the shadows, but otherwise I was unaffected. I truly disliked the sunlight now that I wasn't a human anymore and pulled the hood of my cloak over my head.

Suddenly, there was the shrill sound of screeching metal in the air as well as a human cry. Crowley's gaze met mine.

"Looks like one of the Four Horsemen of John found some prey," he said and we sprang into action, jumping over buildings to get to the source of the noise.

Soon we saw them – three Horsemen but no signs of the humans apart from their smell that lingered in the air. There were two green monsters and a white one.

One of the green ones was prodding at something on the ground while the other green one and the white one were attacking a building on the left side of the street. Humans had to be hiding in there.

"Can you take on the lone green Horsemen on the right?" Crowley asked me.

"Of course, Sir."

We turned to our respective targets. I drew my sword as I jumped into the air and slashed through the Horseman from the head through his feet, splitting it in two at the middle with a clean, practised move.

The blood pooled around its corpse but I had been careful and fast so I wouldn't stain my clothes. A Horseman's blood smelled disgusting and I would hate to have it on my clothes for the entire duration of my mission.

Without turning around I knew that Crowley had already slaughtered his own targets as well. The Thirteenth Progenitor entered the building the Horsemen had been drawn to while I put my sword back in its sheath after flicking the blood off.

Then, a familiar scent drifted over to me.

The sweet odour of human blood.

I followed the scent to its origin, to the place the Horseman had been occupied with, which was an open manhole in the ground. The Horseman's corpse almost covered it, so I kicked the parts out of the way.

While Horsemen were huge, they didn't weigh more than a ton each, and as I'd found out through my own tests in Kyōto, I could lift and throw more weight than that.

"Nii-chan! Nii-chan! Are you all right?! Nii-chan, say something," the voice of a scared young boy reached my ears.

He was about nine years old and hanging onto the metal bars of the shaft in the manhole that led down into the sewer system.

Some of the bars had broken out of the stone, undoubtedly because of the Horseman's interference, and were now lying at the ground together with another boy, or rather, teen. He was around fourteen years old.

It was his sweet blood that I could smell.

Finally, the younger boy seemed to notice me standing there and watching him from above.

"I-Is the monster gone now?" he asked me, still frightened by the experience of a Horseman attacking him.

I nodded in confirmation at his question. "Yes, I killed it. It's safe now." As safe as you could be in the company of vampires. "Can you come up? You're not hurt, are you?"

The boy had no choice but to go up anyway because he couldn't go down due to the missing metal bars in the shaft.

He started tearing up at my question. "M-my Nii-chan saved me from falling down. I was so scared b-because of the scary monster… I-I couldn't move… and he tried to go down with me together, but the stairs gave in. He doesn't answer me…"

"Can you tell me your name?"

"Sh-shin," he sniffled.

"Shin, I can help your brother, but you have to come up here first. Are you able to do that?" If he climbed up, he would become livestock, but I could help his brother then.

What was the right course of action in this situation?

"Y-yes I think so…" he said and started climbing up to me.

It was a slow process; I could tell that the boy was still a little shaken and didn't push him. When he was close enough to the opening, I held out my hand to him. Shin grabbed it and I pulled him up to me with ease.

"You've done well, Shin." I patted him on the head before I gave him the bag with the games. I thought that a distraction would be good for him. "Can you hold onto that for me while I go down and help your brother?"

He nodded. I was surprised that I couldn't detect a hint of fright in his eyes when he beheld me, only the concern for his brother mixed with some curiosity. Did he not realise that I was a vampire?

That was a first, but it could be possible. Takayama was pretty far away from the Demon Army and Sanguinem. Maybe the humans here had never encountered vampires before.

"Stay away from the hole while I help… what's your brother's name?"

"Ryōta," Shin answered me and slowly stopped sniffling. "Our friends are down there, too."

"Okay. Stay here and I'll help Ryōta and the others to get out of there."

Reluctantly, I removed the cloak – thankfully I had another UV-protective guard on the white bolero – because I could easily get caught on the walls with it while jumping down into the narrow shaft. Then I leapt down, being careful not to accidentally land on Ryōta.

"Onee-chan!" Shin cried out in panic.

Whoops. I should have warned him that I would jump.

"I'm fine! Don't worry, Shin! I'm going to help your brother now," I yelled, so he could hear me.

I knelt down next to the young teen and carefully inspected him for wounds. He had grazed arms, most likely from trying to hold onto something during the fall, but his heartbeat sounded steady.

I didn't want to move his head in case he had received a head injury but didn't have much of a choice. There was a small amount of blood at the back of his head but the wound didn't look life threatening.

While I was moving him into a sitting position, I tried not to breathe in the enticing smell of his blood or look at it for too long.

"Vivian?" Crowley called for me. He peered down at me from the edge of the manhole.

"I'm not sure if I should jump with this boy, Lord Crowley. He has a small wound on the back of his head and isn't conscious," I informed him.

The abrupt motion would probably be bad for him.

"What's this? Are you really feeling concerned for some livestock?"

It was faint, but... "Yes." I returned his gaze evenly.

He held it for a moment, his expression unreadable. "...Well, the human won't get better if he continues lying down there." Crowley was right about that.

A movement from the teen brought my attention back to him. "Owww… my head," he groaned as he came back to consciousness, grabbing the back of his head.

"Are you alright, Ryōta?" I asked him.

The young teen's dark brown eyes fell on me, only noticing me now even though I was helping him with sitting up. His heartbeat quickened and his eyes went wide as he took in my appearance.

Maybe _he_ realised that I was a vampire, unlike his younger brother.

"A-are you an angel? D-did I die?" he asked.

I blinked once, twice in surprise, before I registered what he had said.

"An _angel_ , huh?" Crowley repeated wryly from above us.

Considering my past, I felt more than uncomfortable to be called that. "No, I'm not. You must have hit your head rather hard..."

How else could you mistake someone with glowing, blood-red eyes for an angel? Maybe it was the sunlight that was shining down onto my golden hair?

"You're not dead, Ryōta. I'm here to help you. Can you stand up?" I asked him while standing up myself. Then I held out my hand for him.

"Y-yeah." He blushed as he took it, trying not to look at my cleavage in that stupid dress but failing spectacularly.

Oh boy. I'd almost forgotten what dealing with hormonal teen boys was like.

Unfortunately, there was only one way to get him out of here, and now that he was awake jumping should be okay.

"Now... you have to hold onto me tightly. Don't move your head or something else or you could accidentally hit the wall, okay?"

"O-okay."

I embraced the teen tightly; otherwise I couldn't jump with him through the narrow shaft. The human blushed even harder because of the body contact, and his heartbeat accelerated as well, but he moved his arms around me like instructed.

Gosh, this was awkward.

Once more I breathed through my mouth to ignore the alluring smell of his blood that made me want to have a taste.

' _No! Bad Vivian! Bad!'_ I scolded myself and then leapt upwards. _'What would Shinya think of you if you attacked this injured boy?'_

The jump was a bit higher than necessary, but it was easier to change the flight route like this. Ryōta yelped as we flew through the air for a moment before we landed safely next to his brother. I immediately let go of him, but he was still clinging onto me with shut eyes.

"Um... You can let go now, Ryōta. It's safe now," I told him, being slightly amused and uncomfortable at the same time.

He listened after a moment of hesitation. The experience must have been scary for a human... or he was enjoying the body contact a little too much.

I took a few steps back from him to breathe in fresh air and looked around.

It seemed that Crowley had indeed found a group of humans inside the building next to a convenience store. They were standing there watching us. Shin ran up to us with my bag still in his arms.

"You did it, Onee-chan! You saved Nii-chan!" he smiled brightly at me.

I returned the smile and patted his head once more.

One of the girls from Crowley's saved group approached me hesitantly. "My little sister Ami is still down there... She's only five. Can you please help her?" she asked me in a concerned tone.

"Sure, that's what I was about to do," I assured her and moved back to the manhole. I was happy that I could really help humans for once.

"I would help you but I literally can't. My shoulders are too broad for that narrow shaft," Crowley said but didn't sound very bothered by it.

Despite the situation I couldn't help but snigger at the mental image of Crowley getting stuck in the shaft if he tried to enter it. Only his head would stick out of the manhole...

"Are you laughing at me, Vivian?" the redhead guessed why I was so exhilarated.

"Oh no, how could I dare to do that, Lord Crowley?"

"Did I detect a hint of sarcasm there?"

"Hm?" I tilted my head a little and blinked. "What you are talking about, Lord Crowley? I'm not sure what you mean," I denied innocently.

I hoped I didn't go way out on a limb and incurred the Thirteenth Progenitor's wrath with my playful attitude. But if anything, he just appeared contemplative.

Maybe I was being so friendly around him because I had liked him as a character in the series and somehow that like had transferred to the real Crowley? I had to be careful not to become _too_ friendly with him, considering which faction Crowley belonged to.

"You're a cheeky thing, aren't you?"

I merely grinned before I jumped down into the sewer system again. Luckily, the smell down here wasn't as foul as in Sanguinem where the sewers were actually used.

I searched for the other kids and found four of them in a small room a little further in, around a corner. One child held a flash light, but they startled at my silent approach as I stepped into its light.

"W-who are you?" an about six year old girl asked.

The other children were very young, too. They couldn't have been older than one or two during the apocalypse. Their older siblings must have taken care of them this whole time.

"Don't be scared, I'm here to help you get out of here. You're under the rule and protection of the vampires now. You'll get food, water, and shelter in the Yokota Air Base or in Hachiōji, and you'll be protected from the monsters in return for your blood," I told them what I was supposed to say on this mission.

"Really?! No one will be killed by the big monsters again and we won't be hungry anymore?" one of the two boys asked, earning my sympathy.

What these children had to endure for the past years... All because someone had triggered the apocalypse.

"Yes. But we will need a bit of your blood for that in return," I repeated, wanting to prepare the kids for what would be awaiting them.

I hated myself a little for taking them with me, but it _would_ truly be safer for them than staying out here, where they would run out of supplies sooner or later, or would get attacked by Horsemen if they moved around above ground.

They would be safe in Niall's territory at least, because he was a stickler for the rules and had the same rules and regulations in his territory as in Sanguinem.

"Why blood, Onee-san?" one of the two girls asked.

How did you explain to kids what a vampire was without scaring them to death? "Well... you need to eat food and water to live, right? Nee-chan here and the others that will protect you can't eat food or drink water. We need blood instead." I almost cringed at my explanation but hoped the mental image wasn't too scary for them.

They exchanged unsure glances, still not entirely comprehending it. "Come now, your older siblings are already waiting for you."

That made the children move.

* * *

"That was everyone, right?" I asked the group of teens and children after pushing Ami in her older sister's arms.

Somehow their reunion made me smile as I draped my cloak back around my shoulders.

"Yeah, that was everyone from our group," Ryōta affirmed.

Crowley, who had watched the small spectacle, spoke up, "Now that everyone's here, we're going back to our helicopter. There will be food and new clothes for you." He also added the part about receiving food and shelter in return for their blood.

We returned to the helicopter with the humans walking in front of us, and with Crowley and me at the end of the procession like shepherds. On the way to the helicopter Shin fell in pace next to me, his brother trailing after him.

"Did you really kill that monster, Onee-chan?" Shin asked me curiously.

"Yes, I did."

"Wow! Then you must be really strong!"

"I guess so… But Lord Crowley here is even stronger than me. He took two of them down in the time I killed one." I couldn't hide the slight jab at the other progenitor that I was onto him – I was aware that he was stronger than a Thirteenth Progenitor.

"Whoooa," Shin exclaimed and watched the tall vampire, who was walking next to me, with his eyes and mouth wide open before he furrowed his brows.

Then the boy's gaze alternated between Crowley and me.

"Onee-chan, why do you and that Oji-san both have red eyes and funny pointy ears and teeth? Are you foreigners? Oh! And you also both have braids... Is he your papa? Nii-chan told me that I look like my papa, too, but I can't remember him well," Shin babbled.

Ah, the straightforwardness of a child. Did he really call Crowley an uncle just now or assume that he was my father?

I pressed my lips together so I wouldn't laugh but they still twitched. At least he hadn't called Crowley my daddy, or I would have lost it right there. Stupid Shinya and the internet were at fault for corrupting me.

"Hey, I don't _look_ that old," Crowley protested with a slightly troubled expression.

Whatever composure I had had went right out of the window and I broke out into laughter.

"Onee-chan?" Shin was confused about my laughing fit, but I... Just. Couldn't. Stop.

After a while Crowley asked me if I was done now with the most deadpan look ever, which sent me into another fit. Finally, I took a few deep breaths to calm down – I haven't felt this amused in a while.

"Ah, I needed that," I said and wiped away a few tears that I had only noticed just now.

They were the first ones since my talk with Mika a few months ago. I felt a little relieved when I saw them, because it meant that I still felt emotions strongly enough to cry.

"Sorry, Lord Crowley. No, Shin, I'm not a foreigner – I was actually born in Kyōto – and Lord Crowley isn't... he isn't my f-father," I almost cracked up at the words again. "But we do have some similarities because we're both vampires. You'll see that the others have them, too."

"What's a va–"

Ryōta covered Shin's mouth with a hand before his brother could ask the question.

The older boy looked afraid, as if he feared that saying out loud what Crowley and I were would change something or make us act differently. After Crowley's speech earlier, Ryōta must have realised what we were.

"Shin, don't be rude. I'll explain it to you later," he told him before he let go again.

"...Okay."

"Err… can I ask what your name is…?" Ryōta then asked me shyly while fidgeting. Hadn't I told them?

"You can call me Vivian."

"Thank you for helping me and Shin, Lady Vivian."

All these slightly more positive reactions to us most likely stemmed from a lack of knowledge about vampires and lack of interaction with vampires. The humans here only knew that we had saved them from the Horseman and from being stuck in the underground for a while, so they probably thought that we were the good guys.

A misconception, but it was refreshing not to be gazed at with wariness, contempt, horror, or fright by humans for once. I wished it could be like this all the time.

"You're welcome," I responded and blinked at the unexpected title he gave me.

Maybe he thought he needed to attach '-sama' to my name, too, because I had used the honorific with Crowley?

* * *

We were finally back at the helicopter. Some of the other guards had found humans, too. They were visibly scared, so I guessed that they had been drunk from or had seen a vampire suck blood.

I took care of Ryōta's wound while holding my breath and fighting against the thirst, and tried to ignore Crowley's curious gaze on me. I had read several books on first aid in the past months, so I would be able to help my human friends one day if they needed it. This was some well-needed practise for me.

When I was done with that, I helped to provide the humans with food rations after they'd gotten the ID tags and livestock uniforms to change into.

Many guards went back into the city to search for more humans but some of them helped themselves to some blood. Luckily, almost everybody behaved with Crowley right there though one or two humans didn't make it. Compared to my last livestock-fetching mission that were a lot less deaths.

"Here," I gave Shin and Ryōta their provisions.

"Thanks, Lady Vivian," Shin mirrored the title his brother had used for me now even though I would have preferred 'Onee-chan'. "Ah, here's your bag! I forgot to return it." The boy held out the bag with the games to me.

"Thank you for holding onto it, Shin."

My eyes scanned over the crowd of humans and guards. It was around midday, which meant that we would have to wait some more hours before everyone would return.

"Would you like to play a game while we have to wait?" I asked the two siblings.

"Yeah!" Shin nodded in excitement and his brother agreed.

"You can ask some of the others if they want to join, too," I suggested, "And here are some more games you can share with the other humans."

I had picked out several card games for this occasion, figuring that entertained humans were better to handle than scared ones, and that it would help them to relax a little. I'd learned from that other mission.

"Thank you, Lady Vivian! Oh, I almost forgot to tell you that five of our oldest went into the forest to hunt shortly before dawn," Ryōta informed me before they left and did what I'd suggested.

I sought out Crowley, who was sitting on a box away from everyone and was overlooking everything. He immediately got up when I approached him.

"I overheard your conversation."

More like eavesdropped.

"So? Are we going on a hiking trip then, Lord Crowley?"

"Looks like we are. Well, at least the weather is good," the progenitor gazed up into the clear blue sky.

* * *

 **A/N:** I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Finally, Crowley is in the picture, yay! We'll see more of him in future chapters~.

The following two polls are up on my profile, so please vote (mobile phone users will have to switch to desktop mode to see them) if you want :D

\- Do you prefer heroic characters, grey characters, or antagonistic characters? (I'm really curious what you think.)

\- Should Vivian continue to wear the guard uniform after being introduced as Krul's progeny, or should she be allowed to make slight alterations to it? (A reader asked me about it since progenitors can wear customized outfits, but Vivian is just an _unraked_ noble. I probably would have let her wear the same outfit until the second season because I like to see her suffer in a dress xD. But I'm leaving the final decision to you!)

I'm not sure whether I'll update next month, just to warn you. I feel like I need to take a small break from this story to refresh my muse for it. Maybe I'll post other stories in that time.

 **Edit: I realized that only one poll can be up at a time. I'll put the other one up at the end of the month, so don't forget to vote for the current one until then!**

 **I also changed the rating of this story to M, so don't forget to change the rating setting in the filters in order to find _Between Two Worlds._**

Tell me whether you liked the chapter! :)


	18. Different Opinions

******Disclaimer** :**** I don't own Owari no Seraph, its plot or characters, or any other mentioned books, songs, or series. They belong to their respective owners. I only own my OCs and the plot that deviates from canon or doesn't exist in canon. This is a non-profit fan fiction just for fun.

* * *

 _ **To NguyetMieu:**_ Vivian watched only the first season of the anime, but read some more things about certain characters that interested her online (the second season was already out, but she didn't watch it yet before she died in 2018). Nagoya is definitely going to be interesting...

We'll see Shinya's reaction to Vivian's actions in the future, and yes, yes she did compare Crowley to an underwear model ;D The picture of Crowley in a speedo is hilarious btw. Thank you for telling me about it! My life is now complete xD

 _ **To Alice Fairchild:**_ I'm happy to hear that! I do try to keep Vivian and her actions relatable and somewhat realistic :D

 _ **To Charlotte M. Baldonado:**_ I'm glad you are still enjoying BTW! I hope you'll like this chapter, too.

 **A/N:** I changed the rating of the story to M, so please keep that in mind when you are trying to find it in the future. The majority of you voted that Vivian should keep wearing the canon uniform, a.k.a. the dress, so that's what she's going to do. Poor girl. Thank you for voting!

I'm not sure when I'll be able to upload the next chapter, but I'm trying not to take more than two months to update.

As usual, thank you for reading, reviewing and following/ favouriting BTW! I hope you will enjoy this chapter, too, and leave a review!

* * *

 **Chapter 18 – Different Opinions**

Crowley and I climbed up the mountain and passed through a lush forest while keeping out an eye for the small group of humans that was supposed to be hunting here. He was humming a tune that sounded vaguely familiar to my ears.

Where did I...?

"Do you really still care about humans?" the progenitor suddenly asked me.

Crowley had to be thinking about earlier, about the concern I had shown for Ryōta and about how I had interacted with the other humans.

"Hmm... No, not about each and every one of them. But you could say that I have a soft spot for children."

"Wasn't that human you _treated_ almost as old as you?"

Maybe he did indeed know some details about me from Ferid or another source if he was aware of my age. Or had Crowley just correctly guessed my physical age?

My answer to his question was a wry smile. I was more than twice as old as I looked and could have had a child my current physical age by now in my old world if I hadn't died.

"Why do you care about children specifically? Are you interested in their blood?" From Crowley's tone I could tell that the second part was an attempt to tease me.

"I'm not a pervert, Lord Crowley. And do I have to have a reason for caring about the life and death of innocent children?" I retorted.

I knew very well why I still cared about them to a degree; because of my human friends Shinya, Makoto, and Shūsaku. Just like them the children didn't deserve this kind of world.

"Why don't _you_ care, Lord Crowley?" I turned the tables.

"In my eyes humans, no matter their age, are nothing more than livestock. Human life isn't worth much; they all die one day anyway. What does it matter how old they are when they do?" Crowley told me nonchalantly with a small, emotionless smile on his lips.

If I were human, it would have sent chills down my spine.

However, this point of view wasn't new to me after having dealt with other vampires over the past months. Still, to hear the same cold disregard for any human life from Crowley, who had been one of my favourite characters in the series, was rather displeasing and disappointing.

It was one thing to see it in a show where it wouldn't affect me if a kid was killed by a vampire, but another to experience and see it for real.

Would the Thirteenth Progenitor suck my friends dry with that same nonchalance if he ever came across them? Just like Lacus, who had carelessly killed a child by drinking too much of its blood?

"Won't that way of thinking become a problem in the future, though, considering the state of the world? If truly no vampire cares and they just kill and drink from humans as they please, then there won't be any more humans one day. No food supply equals no vampire. Isn't it better if a vampire cares about humans then?" I asked him, feeling a little uncomfortable about calling humans 'food'.

Of course, I was speaking about the normal humans and my friends.

It was hypocritical of me to say that, considering that I'd killed humans with my own hands even though they were from the military I wanted to destroy. But I'd never said that I wasn't a hypocrite.

So, what if I made a distinction between normal humans who didn't deserve to be killed and the soldiers who were my enemies? I was simply doing what was right in my opinion.

That small smile remained on Crowley's face. "You're over-dramatising things a little, Vivian. Even now there are still seven hundred million humans around worldwide, which is more than enough for all of us. And humans reproduce fast, so we don't have to fear that we ever run out of human blood."

He continued as he leapt over a fallen tree, "Even in the 14th century, when human population was at an all-time low due to the Black Death and didn't exceed three hundred seventy million, there was still enough livestock for consumption."

"Nowadays there are also more rules in place. In most territories we're not allowed to drink blood directly from the source; we do it only on the battlefield or while collecting livestock. And most of the time we don't even kill the humans we drink directly from. They only die from blood loss if they are too weak to cope with it."

"..." I saw the cold logic behind his statements but didn't like it and frowned.

"We barely kill any humans and even if one or two measly humans die, it doesn't matter at all," he concluded.

"What if that one measly human life belonged to one of your human friends, Lord Crowley?" I shot back, thinking about the sparse information I had of his past.

He blinked at me. "I don't have any human friends."

"Please, you can't tell me that you've never had any human friends in the past, Lord Crowley. Or that their deaths didn't matter to you back then."

Was I being too forward? Maybe, but I was trying to get to know him and find out what he wanted from me.

The other vampire didn't smile anymore and appeared pensive. "...That's long in the past."

I eyed him more closely. "And yet you still seem to remember them, after more than seven hundred years."

The Thirteenth Progenitor glanced at me with an expression of mild incredulity. "How did you come up with the time frame of more than seven centuries specifically?"

It wasn't hard to explain that away without revealing how I actually knew about him, because several things had come to my notice that I could use for my explanation. It also didn't escape my notice that Crowley had completely changed the topic.

Maybe his human friends were a sore spot for him and he didn't like speaking about them or his human past. It was understandable considering how they had died – either during the Crusade or through Ferid's hands.

Well, at least we weren't talking about blood or discussing the worth of human life anymore.

"There were several clues." I held up one finger. "Earlier you hummed the ' _Palästinalied'_ by Walther von der Vogelweide if I'm right, which is a _Kreuzlied_ that was written at the time of the Fifth Crusade, around the years 1217 to 1221."

I had only recognized the melody because I had once written an essay about it in my music class. A lucky coincidence but useful nonetheless.

Crowley looked at me as if I had grown a second head but seemed... sightly pleased by my knowledge. "Oh, you recognized the song? Not many have heard of it or _Kreuzlieder_ in general, especially not nowadays."

"The history of music is a topic I'm quite interested in." I had not only learned about it in my past life in school and university but had also spent my free time in this life to research things and topics that intrigued me. "And history in general, too."

There were a lot of history books in Sanguinem's library.

"What other observations helped you to estimate my age?" Crowley prompted me.

I held up my second finger. "You talked about the Plague of the 14th century as if you had witnessed it with your own eyes. With these two observations alone one can guess that you're around six hundred to eight hundred years old, but there is more than that."

Crowley told me to continue. A third finger was added to the two others. "The style of your uniform reminds me of what Knights Templar were said to have worn – white mantles." I approached him and pointed at the buttons, or rather, the symbol on them, on his uniform with a smile.

"So does this type of cross. The Knights Templar have only been active for about two hundred years, starting from the early twelfth century if my memory serves right, so that was another clue. If you were a Templar in the past, it would also explain your unusual athletic build for that time period – it's the result of sword training from a young age and participating in battles. I doubt that a mere farmer would have had a build like you."

Thanks to my enhanced eyes I had spotted the cross symbol on his buttons when I was staring at Crowley back in Sanguinem. No idea if they'd been there in the series, too. I couldn't remember such miniscule details.

But I did remember that Crowley had been a Crusader, a Templar, according to the series, and had read up about them and human history some time in the past months out of curiosity and boredom.

The vampires wrote down historical events more objectively, which made the books quite interesting to read.

I wondered whether I would have been able to figure out Crowley's background with just my own observations.

Maybe, maybe not. I felt like a Sherlock Holmes with a cheat sheet.

Crowley smiled and appeared impressed. "I was indeed a Templar once who was foolish enough to go on a Crusade. Did you figure all of this out just by looking at me and being around me... or did Ferid-kun tell you about my past?"

"No, he hasn't mentioned you..." I trailed off. "You must be close to Lord Ferid if you refer to him in such a familiar way even if he has a much higher rank."

Of course, I already knew about their relationship, that Ferid had supposedly turned Crowley into a vampire, but I hoped I would get an explanation for why exactly Crowley was here if I gave him a few prods.

"Hmm. Well, you could say that." Crowley ducked underneath a branch, but I didn't have the same problem. "So staring at me and my chest earlier actually _did_ have some purpose, huh?" he asked wryly, changing the topic once more.

"...If you don't want to be ogled, you shouldn't show so much cleavage, Lord Crowley. It's rather attention-grabbing," I defended myself, slightly embarrassed and not having expected to be called out on my creepy fangirl-staring in Sanguinem.

However, I only managed to make myself feel more embarrassed because of what had slipped out of my mouth.

The former crusader chuckled. "Eh? That's the first time someone said something like that to _me_."

I could imagine. Who would want him to cover up?

No one, including me.

That chiselled chest would make Michelangelo weep with joy. Even though I wasn't able to feel more than a little fondness and some fascination for him – exactly what I'd felt about the character Crowley in the series – a girl could still appreciate a nice view.

If Crowley and I had met as humans, I _might_ have developed a crush on him since he was just my type, but not like this. Despite his suave nature that I quite liked, Crowley thought too much like the other vampires, which didn't sit well with me, and my own atrophying emotions made feeling anything more than a little fondness for him impossible.

I was about to say something else, when I spotted several broken branches on the ground to my left, as well as trampled grass.

"Look, Lord Crowley, these could be human tracks," I stopped and pointed at what I'd discovered.

"Oh, you're right. They lead further west..."

* * *

It wasn't long before we found the first human teen, who was a girl around my physical age. She was startled by our approach, because she'd been preoccupied with preparing a new trap for rabbits, but showed us in which direction we could find the others.

The girl was uncertain what to think about our appearances, having no clue that we were vampires because we had simply told her that we would explain why we were searching for them and who we were once we were in the company of the others.

She appeared to sense that we were not quite normal, though. Crowley and I didn't make a sound while we were walking through the forest and didn't get out of breath when the path became steeper, unlike her. Plus, Crowley was probably the first adult she'd seen since the apocalypse.

The rest of the group had a similar confused reaction to us as her, which turned into weariness and suspicion once Crowley had explained everything.

"If they don't come with us willingly, we'll either have to scare them into submission or take them with us by force... Hmm, I am getting a little hungry," the progenitor told me in a low tone when the humans didn't immediately agree to follow us.

"Can I talk to them for a second?"

"Sure."

I stepped closer to the group.

"So... you're really vampires?" one of the three boys inquired when I was close enough, apparently deeming me more approachable.

"That's right."

They exchanged more unsure glances. "We have to give you our blood?" the human from before asked.

"Yes, you do. In return you'll get shelter, fresh clothes, water and food, and you won't have to fear getting attacked by Horsemen anymore," I repeated. "Ryōta, Shin, Ami and all the others are already waiting for you at the helicopter."

Bringing up some familiar names might convince them to follow us without protest.

"She's talked to them..." one boy murmured.

"But... we'll have to give you our _blood._ A-are you not going to kill us sooner or later?" the other girl in the group was unsure.

My gaze met hers and she visibly flinched. "What's a little blood in return for protection and food? And if we wanted to kill you, we could have already done so on the spot and wouldn't try to convince you to come with us."

I couldn't tell what would happen to them later, though.

They discussed the topic once more.

"Are we done here now or do I need to make an example? I want to return to the helicopter." Crowley was getting impatient and was now standing closer to them from one second to the next.

Whatever the humans had felt before changed to fear at the sight and sudden proximity of the physically intimidating vampire.

One of the boys looked like he wanted to run away, but I held him back by the shoulder before he could take a step.

"Don't," I warned him before I turned to the others. "Do you want to stay here in this town forever and live in constant fear that the Horsemen will get you or risk that you will starve once you run out of supplies?" I asked, eyeing each one of them.

"...No," one of the girls whispered. "No, I don't want that... I don't want to stay here or have to do _this_ anymore," she threw the dead rabbit she'd been holding to the ground.

"Suzu-chan..." the other girl said.

"Come on, Kana-chan. There is nothing left to lose."

Oh, she was wrong about that. She could still lose plenty, but I didn't say it out loud because I was trying to convince them to come with us quietly.

In the end all of the teens followed us to the helicopter without protest.

Crowley and I joined Ryōta, his brother and a few other humans in a card game after I'd convinced the progenitor. He was bored anyway.

Some of the guards were giving us slightly confused looks as we continued playing with the humans. The other teens and children were watching our group curiously as well. I had no idea what Crowley was thinking about fooling around with the humans he saw only as cattle but didn't bother asking him about it.

It would only destroy the mood.

At some point he left us, eyeing one of the other humans at our camp with thirst. Without needing to be prompted, Ami's older sister followed him to the edge of the make-shift camp and offered him her blood for saving her earlier.

It wasn't hard to tell that she was scared of but also a little enamoured with the Thirteenth Progenitor, because she'd been staring at him the whole time he was playing cards. He accepted her blood and thankfully didn't drink enough to kill her.

The last game at sun down was an all-out challenge between Crowley and Shin, the last two in the game. Shin got extraordinarily lucky and won against the Thirteenth Progenitor.

I rummaged through the bag I'd used to store the games in to retrieve...

"Pikachu!" Shin and Ami cried as I held the plush up as if it was Simba and I Raffiki, and threw Crowley a smug look that said 'I told you so'. The redhead merely shook his head in disbelief.

"Here, Shin. This is your price for winning a fierce battle against the big bad vampire. Be proud of this victory."

The boy took the plush toy with a huge smile. "Hehe! Thank you, Lady Vivian!"

"Why am I being labelled as the 'big bad vampire'?" Crowley complained playfully after the humans had left us.

I shrugged. "It made the whole thing sound more dramatic. Besides, it's not wrong from a human's point of view, is it?"

"Well..."

* * *

At sundown we packed up.

"Those humans were quick about giving up their freedom," Crowley commented as the group of teens who had gone hunting entered the helicopter. They were the last ones. "Well, it's better if they accept their role as our cattle fast."

"Please don't call them that, Lord Crowley," I protested as I closed the door with the press of a button and started the helicopter.

"But that's exactly what they are to us – livestock. Don't you drink the blood of children in Sanguinem as well?" Crowley pointed out, and I avoided his inquiring look, feeling ashamed and guilty about it.

"...I don't have much of a choice if I don't want to become a demon," I said quietly after some hesitation.

Once again I felt like such a hypocrite because yes, I did have a choice once. I could have chosen to die as a human... if Krul had _let_ me die.

And now I couldn't go more than three days without blood before the craving for it became so painful and maddening that I was willing to attack the children in Sanguinem for it.

"You don't have to explain yourself. It wasn't an accusation. All of us are doing the same thing for the same reason, after all."

In order to survive and keep our sanity, we were preying on humans and their blood.

"That doesn't make me feel better about it," I mumbled.

"Do you still feel as if it is a sin to drink human blood?"

He hit the nail right on the head. Why did Crowley have to ask such personal questions? Then again, I had done the same.

"...Do you?" Why were we even talking about this topic?

"Answering a question with a question, huh? No, not anymore, but it felt like that in the beginning." He was quiet for a few moments. "That girl earlier killed a rabbit without a second thought to eat it, because it was lower in the food chain. Humans consume animals that are weaker than them all the time, so why shouldn't we do the same with humans, creatures that are weaker than us?"

"Because humans are sentient beings, capable of the same thoughts as you and I, and we were once humans ourselves," I retorted.

There was a cold hard truth in Crowley's words, but I couldn't completely agree with him.

"You are still young and haven't been a vampire for long, therefore you still cling to what you know from your life as a human, but in time you will come to understand why livestock is not equal to us and why humans are better off as our cattle," Crowley began, further confirming that he was aware of my background.

"You will witness how they always repeat their foolish mistakes and never learn from their history. You will see how humans kill each other because of their own selfish desires, sometimes in the name of a god, or for their own justice, and how they don't care if they destroy the rest of the world due to their greed. I've seen it happen with my own eyes over and over again. Sooner or later you will agree that they are better off being livestock under the rule of us vampires."

What was it with progenitors and their prophecies about my future? First Ferid and now Crowley. Was I really going to turn out like all the other vampires?

And there was something else – I didn't see humans as cattle, but...

I tilted my head in partial agreement. "In the past years my opinion about humankind has changed a little, not only because I've read a lot about human history. Some of them have been too power-hungry and as a consequence the apocalypse was brought upon us all and innocent people had to suffer or die. The megalomaniacs who are responsible for this and the current state of the world are the ones that must be eradicated. Down to the very last one," I declared with a dark look.

"Hmm~, I didn't expect that you would agree with me to some degree. You sound as if it is your personal goal to kill those who are responsible for the apocalypse. Is that out of a sense of _righteousness_?"

"Does true righteousness even exist, Lord Crowley?" I repeated wryly. "No, I'm not deluding myself into thinking that I am righteous by wanting to rid this world of certain individuals. It's mostly for my own self-satisfaction that I want to tear that human garbage into teeny, tiny pieces. They are at fault for ruining my life and the lives of many others, so I'm going to hunt that vermin down and make sure that they suffer before I send them to the next world."

How bloodthirsty and vindictive my plans for those scientists and soldiers sounded when I said them out loud. Ah, the irony.

"Wow, I'm surprised to hear that you're harbouring such a deep grudge against some humans after you treated the livestock so nicely," Crowley remarked.

"The humans we collected today are victims in this whole matter, too."

This mindset was the reason why I could kill soldiers from the Demon Army without remorse but didn't want to harm one of the normal humans that didn't belong to the JIDA.

"Victims, huh?" the Thirteenth Progenitor repeated.

* * *

I personally escorted Ryōta, Shin, Ami, and her older sister to Niall's territory, the Yokota Air Base. The other helicopter had stopped in Hachiōji.

Niall's subordinates led the humans away to their new quarters. I'd already said goodbye to them and hoped that they would fare well here. I couldn't do any more than that for them.

After Niall had greeted Crowley and me and we'd talked for a bit, the progenitor used the opportunity to have a training fight with me. Crowley stayed in the area and watched our spar that went on for quite some time.

Afterwards, Niall offered us each a glass of blood that we both accepted. The tree of us conversed about the fight, my skills, mistakes, and different sword techniques until early in the morning.

"I could continue your training. My territory is in Nagoya, so it isn't that far away from Sanguinem," Crowley finally proposed to me when we were on the way to the helicopter.

The other guards were already waiting for us on the hangar but no one dared to say anything about our tardiness. Besides, we had all the time in the world.

The former knight's offer came as quite a surprise but I wasn't disinclined to accept it, because I still wanted to get to know him and I _did_ need a teacher.

"That would be pretty neat... I'll have to ask Krul for her approval, though."

Crowley was part of Ferid's faction, after all, and might use this opportunity to try and extract more information from me. Krul might not like that, even though it could also enable me to figure out what exactly Ferid wanted from me in turn.

"The queen is your sire, isn't she?"

Judging from his expression that didn't show disbelief or surprise, Crowley already knew that, so I nodded in answer to his question.

"After this mission I'll be staying in Sanguinem for a while, so we can start your training right away if you want," he offered.

"That sounds good, but I'm not going to return to Sanguinem with you now, Lord Crowley. I have another mission to complete, so I won't be back until the day after tomorrow."

I pulled out Krul's signed and folded mission letter from my new, small back pocket, that was fastened at the back of my sword belt, and gave it to Crowley.

He quickly read over it. "Oh? What kind of mission is this? A solo mission? There are no mission perimeters written down."

"Yes, it' a solo mission. The details are confidential."

I didn't trust him enough to tell him that I'd be searching for my human friends. For the same reason I'd labelled it as a solo mission.

Who knew if he'd follow me if I didn't. That was a risk I wasn't willing to take.

I didn't know what Ferid had told him to do, but I was sure that I was the reason Crowley had participated on this mission. Maybe the Thirteenth Progenitor should find out the identities of my friends.

Crowley lifted one of his brows. "I see. Will you find your way back to Sanguinem on your own?"

"I will. I'm a big girl, Lord Crowley," I reassured him playfully.

"You could have fooled me. Big girls don't carry around weird yellow mouse plush toys," he teased me.

"Hey! Pikachu and Pokemon in general is not just for children!"

The progenitor grinned at my indignation. "I beg to differ. I'll see you in two days, Vivian."

After Crowley's goodbye we parted ways. I waited until the helicopter was out of sight before I left the air base myself.

Shinjuku and my former home were about fifty kilometres to the east. I'd check the area again before I started to search for Makoto and Shūsaku once more.

Today was a Friday, so I didn't want to miss the opportunity. Maybe Shinya still came by on Fridays, although I hadn't seen him on the two Fridays I'd visited Shinjuku in the past months.

* * *

I reached my destination around sunrise. I'd already pulled the hood over my head, not only because of the irritating sunlight but also to hide my face. I couldn't afford to be recognized by any of the Demon Army's soldiers I might come across.

Like usual, I was travelling on foot in this area. Anything else was too loud and would draw too much unwanted attention. The sound of a car was like a signal flare in this destroyed world.

I searched the area around my former apartment and spotted a small group of soldiers that was watching the building again. Nothing new there.

I slipped in and out of the shadows as I changed my place of observation and kept a close eye on my surroundings. Nothing happened while the hours passed.

Shinya wasn't here.

When I decided to change my vantage point again, I chose to stay on a rooftop of one of the taller hotels in the nearby area.

It was further away than the other vantage points I normally occupied and closer to Shibuya than I liked, so I needed to be extra careful with the Demon Army's stronghold at my back, but I wasn't opposed to trying a new perspective.

About a street away from the hotel something on a rooftop gleamed in the sunlight.

That was the only warning I got before a bluish glowing projectile almost hit me. No, it would _have_ hit me if I hadn't evaded it just in time with a jump to the right.

I drew and activated my sword on autopilot and immediately needed to use it when another soundless attack came from behind. My blade sliced through the image of a tiger with a bluish glow that vanished afterwards.

A white tiger.

The manifestation of the demon that had attacked me took the form of a white tiger with blue eyes.

My breath hitched and all my thoughts seemed to come to a sudden stop, but I didn't have much time to stomach this discovery and what it meant.

I whirled around and defended myself against another attack I'd sensed coming. Just as I cut through the blue magic bullets, I let my eyes roam over the building in the direction where the sharpshooter must have taken cover.

It didn't take me long to spot him on a rooftop even if there was quite a distance between us.

There, pointing his rifle at me, was Shinya.

* * *

 **A/N:** Dum-dum-dum. Dramatic music starts playing. Sorry about the evil cliffhanger... It just happened. I hope you enjoyed the chapter!

How will Shinya react to Vivian once he recognizes her? Find out in the next chapter(s)!

 **Review? :D**


	19. Confrontation

******Disclaimer** :**** I don't own Owari no Seraph, its plot or characters, or any other mentioned books, songs, or series. They belong to their respective owners. I only own my OCs and the plot that deviates from canon or doesn't exist in canon. This is a non-profit fan fiction just for fun.

* * *

 _ **To SpiceyFez:**_ I agree :D

 _ **To Crysnell:**_ Sorry, it just happened that way~. You might be onto something there ;)

 ** _To legendaryNOT:_** Right? Find out in this chapter!

 ** _To NguyetMieu:_** Hiya! Glad you enjoyed the history lesson, lol. Aww, but Crowley's pecs need air? xD And yes, if she finds out Guren basically started the apocalypse, Vivian won't be happy about it to say the least. Future bride... hehe. Sorry... Maybe I was feeling a little sadistic when I wrote these chapters, haha.

 ** _To my guest reviewer from Jan 20:_** Hmm, the Nagoya arc is still many chapters away, so I can't tell you too much about it or I would spoil the plot. However, you might get an idea about the future after reading the next chapters since Vivian and Shinya's relationship will be explored, as well as what they are going to do from now on.

 ** _To P1anoman2019_** : Cosnidering Crowley's attitude towards Guren and co. when they make plans to defeat Ky Luc I guessed that he might not be opposed to playing games with humans, especially when he is bored :D I'm happy you liked the chapter!

 _ **To RokenDarkly:**_ I like your enthusiasm xD

 _ **To Epicfani:**_ I don't know any Portuguese, so I'm unable to reply to you in your language, but thankfully we live in the 21st century and have the internet~. Ah yes, the horrors of discovering that there is no 'next' button when you've reached the end of the chapter... That's every reader's nightmare. I'm glad that you came across my story while story-hunting and enjoy my writing! The long-awaited meeting between Shinya and Vivian finally commences in this chapter :D It's definitely going to be emotional. I'm happy to hear that you also like my **Vampire Knight** fanfic _Where The Flowers Bloom,_ and thanks for the praise!

 ** _To DesolateSun_** : Ikr? Sorry it just happened that way xD

 ** _To my guest reviewer from Feb 3:_** I don't know if you've already read everything up to this chapter, but I'm glad I could somehow make you interested in my story even if you never heard of the anime or manga Owari no Seraph/ Seraph of the End before! I can recommend it :D

 _ **Charlotte M Baldonado:**_ I'm glad you like where this is going! Thank you so much for your constant support :) ! Concerning the Crowley xTimetravellerOC story, I've only written a few chapters of that story up to now, because I need to do a lot of research for it to make it as historically accurate as possible. It takes place in the 13th century after all. I'm also busy with other stories/things at the moment, so it's probably going to take a while until I upload it since I also want to have at least ten chapters before I start with uploading. Sorry :(

 **A/N:** Sorry for the wait, but I had several completely different versions of this chapter because I just wasn't satisfied with what I'd written. I hope you like this final version!

* * *

 **Chapter 19 – Confrontation**

My heart overflew with emotions at the sight of my childhood friend Shinya. For a moment it almost felt as if it was beating again, as if I was human again.

Relief, shock, excitement, joy, longing mixed with anxiety... Emotions that were usually so faint overcame me, as if the blanket of apathy that was covering them when I wasn't around Mika or Krul was suddenly lifted.

I took a few deep breaths to try and calm myself while I drank him in with my enhanced vision, my sword still in my grip at my side.

Shinya's features had matured and he was taller and broader than in my memory as he stood up. The hair on the left side of his head, that was still distinctively white, was brushed back, which suited him quite well.

Begrudgingly, I had to admit that he also looked really good in that hateful uniform. My childhood friend had grown up into a handsome young man in the past four years and wasn't a teen boy anymore. And above all, he looked perfectly healthy.

It was a huge relief to confirm with my own eyes that he was alright. Kureto didn't suspect that Shinya might have had a hand in my escape from the research facility then. To this day I still didn't know who had helped me escape.

Even though Shinya was wearing the JIDA's uniform, I was certain that I could still trust him. No, I _wanted_ to trust him, no matter what. It didn't matter to me that he was wearing _that_ uniform as long as I got him back.

In addition, it was possible that Shinya was still aiming to destroy the Hiiragi, the leaders of the Demon Army, from within and was simply _pretending_ to be on their side for this reason. I refused to believe that he was on _their_ side, that he was one of them for real.

My friend didn't seem to recognize me, but that wasn't surprising, because I was wearing the hood to hide my face and was standing in the shadow of a building. Anxiously, I wondered whether he would even recognize me now if I pushed it back.

I wasn't the same person I'd been over four years ago. I wasn't even human anymore.

I clenched my teeth and felt the two ever-present, sharp fangs protruding from my upper jaw. They were the irrefutable proof of what I was. The crimson eyes and pointed ears were very noticeable, too.

Shinya would see right away what I'd turned into if he saw me in the light.

What would he think about me?

Unbidden, Ferid's words flashed through my mind and spurred on my own fears and doubts. The very thought that Shinya could reject me and might never want to see me again me because I'd become a vampire was unbearable.

He'd been one of the reasons why I held on for so long during my captivity, why I'd chosen to become a vampire and stay alive.

First and foremost I'd accepted Krul's offer in order to see Shinya and my friends again.

I'd missed him dearly over the past years, and there hadn't been a day when I didn't think of him. I wanted to speak to him so badly.

But now I wasn't sure what to do.

When I agreed to become a vampire, I'd hoped that this day would come. I'd been aware that my decision would have consequences, and that my friend might not accept me like this even if it had been the only way to see him again.

It didn't make this any easier, though.

I didn't dare to hope that Shinya would be as accepting as Yū'd been with Mika in the series. Maybe he'd prefer me dead over being a vampire – the enemy of humanity he killed on a daily basis.

But I couldn't run from this. I would only find out what Shinya thought about me and my choices if I spoke to him.

I'd learned from that debacle with Mika that avoidance wouldn't solve my problems, it would only make them bigger. And who knew when I would meet Shinya again?

Maybe the circumstances would be even worse the next time. Reuniting on the battlefield a lá MikaYū could certainly go very wrong.

Even if I feared my friend's reaction, his rejection, I couldn't throw this rare opportunity away. Not everyone had the chance to see their loved ones again in this kind of world, so I should be grateful for this small miracle and seize this chance.

There was no escaping from what I was anyway. My vampirism wouldn't go away, no matter what I did or how long I waited and hid myself.

For a second I was concerned about hurting my human friend somehow because of my vampiric nature, put I pushed that unsettling thought back into a corner of my mind. I had learned to control my ever-present desire for blood.

I'd rather get hurt myself than hurt any of my human friends. I swore to myself that I would keep my vampiric instincts in check around them, no matter what.

My friends would never see this ugly new side of me if I could help it.

My internal conflict didn't last more than a few seconds even though it felt a lot longer.

Thankfully, Shinya didn't try to shoot at me again in that time frame. He was probably waiting for a reaction from me to decide how to proceed after realising that I was able to deflect his attacks.

I would have jumped up the roof to him if he'd been alone, but, unfortunately, there were more humans on the rooftop, which complicated things. There were three young women and two men around Shinya's age up there. They were wearing the uniform of the Demon Army, too.

All of them were oddly familiar, especially the guy with black hair and the woman with the brown, braided hair.

Oh! I'd seen them in the series. I was pretty sure that the guy with dark hair was called Guren and the girl was... Sayori? Sayuri?

Guren had been kind of important in the Owari no Seraph series because he'd adopted Yū, had been some kind of commander, and had let Yū and the others undergo the test for the cursed gear. And Sayuri had been Yū's teacher.

This whole group had participated in the battle in Shinjuku in the anime.

Was this Shinya's squad? His other human friends I had never met?

These circumstances were less than ideal, but they were probably as good as they would get. Any human would be foolish if they walked around all alone when there were vampires and Horsemen in the area, and Shinya was definitely no fool.

The question was how I could separate him from his squad in order to have a private conversation with my friend. Pushing back my hood and revealing myself might be a quick way to find out how Shinya would react to the new me, but I doubted that it would go down well with him.

Maybe I was just delaying the inevitable, but I wanted to reveal myself in another setting.

After one more long look at Shinya I slipped into a side alley and out of his sight.

* * *

"Looks like it got scared and fled," Shinya said once the vampire was gone and lowered his cursed gear, Byakkomaru.

"We should change our position. Who knows if the bloodsucker will return. I'd rather not get ambushed by that one," Guren remarked before he entered the stairwell of the building, him being in front of the group with Shinya, the only other Black Demon Series wielder of the group.

It was a defensive formation with the two strongest fighters placed in the front and the quartet in the back supporting them. This formation was meant to ensure the survival of every one of them.

"If it was powerful enough to notice and deflect Lord Shinya's attacks, then it's possible that it was a vampire noble," Shigure spoke up as they descended the stairs.

"Exactly," Guren agreed.

All of them had automatically moved into this defensive formation upon realising this. No words had needed to be exchanged because they'd been a team for so long and were perfectly in tune.

"Aren't we a lucky bunch?" Shinya said dryly, being of the same opinion.

It was unsettling that the vampire was fast enough to evade his shot just in time, and that it was able to defend itself against Byakkomaru's attacks. It had worn the common vampire uniform for females, but it was too powerful to be a common vampire. Shinya was sure that it had also wielded a first-class weapon.

"Yikes," Goshi commented. "What's a vampire noble doing this close to Shinjuku?"

"An intelligent question for once," Mito said, making Goshi clutch his heart as if he'd been hit.

"Ouch, Mito-chan. You hurt my feelings."

"As if," the young woman scoffed.

"Maybe it was spying?" Sayuri offered.

"I think so, too. I'm certain it was the same vampire that I've seen a few weeks ago," Shinya agreed.

It had been a Friday back then, too. Somehow he doubted that it was a coincidence. "It looked like it was observing the soldiers that were stationed close to Vivi-chan's apartment or the apartment building itself," he informed his friends.

Shinya hadn't shot the vampire on sight that time because he'd wanted to see what it would do. The bloodsucker seemed to have been observing the soldiers and Vivian's place this time as well, in addition to surveying the whole area, as if it was searching for something, or... _someone_.

The question was why.

Why would a vampire that was most likely capable of dispatching that group of normal soldiers not do so and watch them instead? Was it waiting for something?

Did it know something about Vivi-chan? Was it searching for her and keeping a low profile for that reason?

Shinya furrowed his brows. He was speculating too much. He should rather look at the facts.

Out of all days of the week it could show up, the creature had come by on Fridays, the day he'd mentioned he would be there in the message he'd left at Vivian's place. Which meant that the vampire could have read it somehow, and it could mean that it was aiming for Shinya specifically for some reason.

However, he was certain that he hadn't written his name on the note, so it couldn't know that Shinya was the one who had written it.

What was the vampire trying to do? Did it have a connection to his friend?

Shinya wondered how Vivian could be involved with the vampires _and_ the Demon Army, but the puzzle pieces didn't fit together. He lacked information.

"First the Imperial Demon Army took an interest in your friend, and now even the vampires seem to be involved somehow... What did that girl get herself into?" Goshi mused, thinking along the same lines as Shinya.

Concern and worry were reflected in Shinya's eyes and his expression was unusually serious when he replied. "I'd like to know that, too."

Guren remained silent.

* * *

The squad of friends was moving swiftly through the dilapidated streets with their guard up and their senses on high alert in case the vampire from earlier was still around or had called for reinforcements.

Goshi had created an illusionary spell that hid them from sight, but a powerful vampire noble might not be fooled by it and notice them.

Because of this it came as a surprise when a golfball-sized thing was thrown in their way. The group evaded it in case it was something like a grenade and waited for the blast.

"Shit!" Guren cursed.

"What the hell was that?!" Norito yelled when nothing happened.

Each member of the group got into defensive positions and eyed their surroundings to find the person that had thrown the harmless projectile, but Shigure noticed something strange about it. There was something attached to it.

The projectile itself seemed to be nothing more than a stone. A folded piece of paper was wrapped around it with some light golden yarn.

No, that wasn't yarn. It was human hair.

"Lord Shinya, Master Guren... there seems to be a message attached to it," she spoke up.

"Huh?" Guren was the first one to eye the object in question after Shigure's comment.

Shinya's eyes widened when he saw what was wrapped around the thing that had startled them.

That shade of blonde... Was that a lock of Vivian's hair?

He bent down and reached for the stone, but Guren held him back by his arm. "It could be a trap."

"I think that's a strand of Vivian's hair," he said, being a little creeped out and worried by that observation.

"What? Why would someone cut their hair off like that?" Mito wondered. She was proud of her own long red hair and would never want to part with it.

"Maybe she wanted to ensure that I knew this is from her." Shinya had stared at her hair often enough to recognize it.

"Or...this could be a trap," Guren repeated in a deadpan.

"No matter what it is, it's definitely creepy," Goshi said while fiddling with the goatee he had grown since the year before.

"Well, I'm willing to risk it. Let go of my arm, Guren." Shinya gave his dark-haired friend a stern look.

"..." Guren hesitated for a moment longer before he let go. "Fine, do what you want."

Shinya picked up the stone and removed the golden strand of slightly wavy hair. Yeah, that was definitely Vivian's, he had no doubts about it. He opened the folded piece of paper that had been attached to the stone with the hair strand.

Goshi's spell was still active, so the group wasn't in immediate danger, but his friends watched out for him nevertheless while he was reading the message.

It was Vivian's familiar handwriting that greeted him when he opened the note.

At the thought that his lost friend might be in the area hope and immense relief welled up in him. Vivian was alive and she was here. Years of fruitlessly searching and worrying for her had gone by, but now Shinya might finally see her again.

Or was he being too optimistic? There was something strange about her actions and this whole situation.

Why would Vivian turn this into a game of hide and seek? If she had spotted Shinya, why didn't she just come out and march up to him to give him one of her heartfelt hugs?

And how had she seen Shinya in the first place and knew where to throw the stone when he was hidden by Goshi's illusionary spell? Why didn't she reveal herself?

He wondered if she was concerned about Shinya's friends because they were wearing the uniform of the Demon Army.

Was his theory about her involvement with the Demon Army right? Were they hunting her down for some reason?

Shinya began to read the note in search for answers.

 _Shinya..._

 _I'm not sure where to begin, because there is so much I want to tell you. I'm beyond relieved to see that you are fine. Not a day has gone by that I haven't been thinking of you – I've missed you dork more than you can imagine. A lot has happened in the past four and a half years... Most of it was bad. Really, really bad, and the Japanese Imperial Demon Army was involved._

 _I'll explain everything in person at a more secure place and in private, so please don't try to search for me in this area. I won't show myself. I suspect that the humans who are accompanying you might be the friends you've told me about in the past, but I don't trust them. I want to talk to you one-on-one._

 _Sorry for being wary, paranoid and super cautious, but I doubt that anyone but you can understand my situation._

 _I'll be waiting for you inside this book store at the following address._

 _Lots of love,_

 _Vivian_

 _P.S.: Sorry about the creepy hair wrapping, but I thought that way you would know that the message was from me even before opening it._

Well, Shinya certainly did.

There was a doddle of a cartoon owl at the end of the message, and next to it was something that could be... a cat?

A cat with stripes. Ah, was that supposed to be Shiro, the white plush tiger Vivian had gifted him in the past?

Like always, his friend couldn't draw anything but owls. Shinya couldn't help but smile until he read the last line.

 _P.P.S.: Please... don't hate me._

He furrowed his brows in confusion and worry. Why would Vivian think that Shinya would hate her? Had the Demon Army done something to her, changed her in a way? Or did she have to do something horrible to escape from their clutches?

 _'I'll only get my answers if I talk to her,'_ he concluded. _'She must have her reasons for wanting to meet me at a different location in private. Out here in the open is really not the best place to have a serious private conversation anyway, especially if she is being hunted by the Demon Army.'_

Even if her message and they way how it was delivered to him were a little dubious, it was definitely from Vivian.

Shinya decided to trust her because his oldest friend had never failed him or betrayed his trust and he wanted to believe in Vivian. He couldn't help but look around once more in the hopes of spotting her, though. However, like she'd written, she remained hidden.

More than anything, he wanted to see her again and hold her in his arms, ensure that she was safe. It was one of the few goals he had in his life.

Shinya relayed the contents of the letter to his friends.

At first, they were against the two-person meeting because being out here without a squad was incredibly dangerous, but Shinya assured them that he would be careful and that they could trust Vivian.

In the end, they agreed to let the two of them have their privacy during their chat because Shinya was adamant in his decision to meet Vivian. They would wait right outside the spacious book store his friend and first love had chosen as their meeting place and check on him after a certain amount of time had passed.

Of course, Goshi couldn't refrain from teasing Shinya on the way. "Finally, you'll see your beloved again, eh?"

"Jealous~?" Shinya couldn't keep the smile off of his face and didn't even bother to deny it anymore.

"Not really. She isn't your girlfriend yet, is she?"

"Yep, she isn't. Even if Vivian had wanted more than friendship from me, I wouldn't have dared to drag her into the mess that was the Hiiragi Clan and the Order of Imperial Demons back then. She was just a normal civilian and I preferred to keep it that way."

It would have been too selfish to gamble with her life just because he wanted to be with her. Vivian also didn't belong in the cold, ruthless world Shinya had grown up in. It wouldn't have made her happy.

Oh, and Shinya was also technically engaged with Mahiru at that time even if it was just a ruse. It had been kind of complicated.

Shinya couldn't help but make innuendos or drop hints for Vivian, though, even if he couldn't tell her about his feelings or include her more in his life as a safety precaution. Merely being friends with him had already put her in enough danger.

It puzzled him that she could be so perceptive at times and then be so blind when his feelings for her were involved. Maybe he was just that good at hiding what he was feeling or thinking. Or maybe she just didn't want to see them and liked Shinya only as a friend.

Vivian had also been weirdly determined not to date anyone who wasn't an adult per law even though she was just a teen herself. At times, he thought that she was behaving like an adult woman stuck in a girl's body, which was hilarious.

Sometimes his hopes had gone up, like that time during her test of courage when one of her female classmates had been overly touchy with him and Vivian had glared at the girl as if she wanted to slice her head off. It could have been just her protective instinct, though and not jealousy.

A man could still hope.

Vivian was as viciously protective of her friends as Guren, or perhaps even more. They both cared so much about people.

Shinya had always admired that trait about them because it was something he lacked. He'd changed a little ever since meeting her and Guren, though.

Goshi grimaced. "Right." All of them understood what it was like to grow up and live in a family that was part of a magical syndicate, and why Shinya wouldn't want to bring his beloved into that world.

"Just be careful, idiot," Guren reminded him. "I don't want to have to save your sassy ass."

"You know me, Guren."

"That's why I'm telling you this. You can be really reckless when it comes to your friends."

"Look who's talking," Shinya grinned.

The prospect of losing his life had never fazed him.

* * *

If I hadn't been secretly following Shinya and his squad ever since our confrontation, I wouldn't have found them again when they used some kind of spell to hide themselves.

They vanished from my sight, but I was still able to hear and smell them to a degree. Additionally, they left footprints on the ground, so I knew in which direction they were heading.

An idea how I could contact Shinya and separate him from his squad hit me then. I used a site from the notebook I was carrying in the small bag on the back of my belt and quickly wrote my message for Shinya.

I cut off a long strand of my hair, because I was certain that my friend would recognise it and would realise that the message was from me that way. It would grow back in less than a minute anyway.

I threw the stone with the message in the general direction of Shinya's squad from my hiding place around the corner of a building and retreated further when I heard it land on the ground.

I waited for a few tense moments and peaked around the corner to check whether my message had been discovered when I heard muffled shouts.

The stone had vanished, which must mean that Shinya or one of his friends had picked it up.

Hoping for the best, I rushed to the book store, that I had often visited in the past. I kept glancing around on the way to ensure that I wasn't being followed and hadn't been spotted and was relieved when I entered the semi-darkness of the book store.

Upon entering it I saw my reflection in the dirty glass door, which made me feel self-conscious again. It didn't matter what I looked like when I was around the other vampires or humans who didn't know me, but I was really apprehensive to show myself to Shinya.

It was similar to how I'd felt about showing myself to Mika after my eyes had turned red and I'd drunken human blood, but at the same time it was so much worse.

Would Shinya understand my reasons and decisions or would he condemn me for them?

I fiddled nervously with my fingers while I checked out the building to ensure that Shinya and I would be alone. There was no one here but a family of mice.

Even though I didn't need to wait for long, my anxiety about my life situation and Shinya's reaction to it, that was mixed with the exhilaration of soon being able to talk to my friend again, made every second pass too slow and too fast at the same time.

I heard him long before I saw him.

First, there was the sound of several different footsteps outside, then at the entrance. Shinya assured his friends that he would be fine. They fortunately stayed outside and only one pair of feet entered the building.

Next, I smelled Shinya, his scent being the same as always though I could detect more nuances in it than usual thanks to my heightened sense of smell.

I hated the inhuman part of me that thought that it was also a very delicious scent. It horrified and disgusted me that I even contemplated for the part of a second how Shinya's blood would taste.

My friend slowly came closer and closer to my hiding place but stopped when he was right in the middle of the store, where he had the best vantage point.

It was still some distance away from the bookshelf I hid behind. I just couldn't help myself. I was so happy that I could speak to my friend again, but at the same time so very afraid of his reaction.

"Vivi-chan?" Shinya sounded hopeful yet cautious. I relished the sound of his voice and the way he said my name.

I closed my eyes for a moment and took a few more unneeded breaths. The time was necessary to muster up the courage to say something.

It was almost perverse that my body was so silent and unmoving when I was feeling like a ball of anticipatory anxiety. My heart should be pounding a hundred miles an hour to match my feelings.

"Shinya," I said quietly and a little breathlessly.

"Vivi-chan?" Shinya repeated, but this time he had turned in my direction and began to take a few step towards me.

His heart was beating as fast as mine should be, which meant that I wasn't the only one who was nervous about our meeting.

"Wait!" I pleaded and slid further into the shadows of the aisle, like the coward I was.

Shinya stopped in his tracks. "What's wrong, Vivi-chan? Why are you still hiding? My friends are waiting outside, so you have me aaall to yourself like you wanted it~."

Despite my nerves, or maybe because of my nerves, I had to hold back an amused snort. God, how I had missed Shinya and this attitude and way of speaking of his.

"Don't make me laugh," I chided him. "I have to talk with you about some serious topics."

"So I've read. But if you're playing hide and seek with me like a little child, I'm afraid I can't muster up any seriousness."

"Th-that's... I-I have a reason for it, okay?" I stuttered.

"Heeeh~? Don't you want to see your old buddy again and give him a big hug?"

Damn you, Shinya, for making this harder for me!

"I do! I really do, but... I'm... I'm..." _a vampire_ , "...not the same girl you knew anymore," I finished lamely and clenched my fists. "You... you probably won't like me anymore if you see me."

How did you come out to someone who hunted vampires for a living as being a vampire? Maybe I should have read one of the coming-out books in this store while I was waiting for my friend. This was harder than I'd imagined.

"Aww, are you feeling self-conscious, Vivi-chan~?" he asked playfully.

 _'Yes, very,'_ I answered him in my thoughts but remained quiet and fiddled with one of the books from the shelf next to me. The silence hung heavy between us.

"Seriously? Vivi-chan~, you know that I'll always be your friend and that it doesn't matter to me what you look like, right?" Shinya promised me, thinking that it was merely a cosmetic problem.

"Don't... Don't make promises you can't keep, Shinya-nii," I said in a pained tone though I wanted nothing more than to believe him.

"Vivian, what happened to you?" Shinya's playful and airy tone was gone and was replaced by concern.

A shaky exhale was my response. "A lot. Too much."

"Did the Demon Army do something to you?"

Anger rose in me at the mention of it. "Yes."

"...And the Demon Army is still after you, isn't it? That's the reason why a squad is stationed near your old home, right?" Shinya conjectured. "You removed my message and any evidence that could point towards me and make them suspect that I'm in contact with you and helping you somehow in order to protect me and my friends, didn't you?"

My friend hit the nail right on the head. "Discerning as always."

"I live to please," he retorted airily but there was a spark of truth in his words. "What does the Demon Army want from you, Vivi-chan? What did they do to you?"

I could hear that Shinya was getting agitated on my behalf, but there was no nice way to relay what had been done to me.

"They... they found me on the day of the apocalypse when I tried to get help for Kaori and Akira, shortly after I left a message on your mailbox," I began tensely as the memories resurfaced, but somehow it was easier to talk about them now compared to that time with Krul.

"The soldiers of the Demon Army captured me and brought me to the research facility in Shibuya, where the scientists tried to turn me into... their bioweapon. I was their captive and one of their test subjects for four years before I managed to escape. Naturally, they want me back now."

Shinya was processing the bad news quickly. "You were subjected to human experimentation for four years?" he asked with barely hidden anger.

It wouldn't get any better from this point on.

"Who ordered it?" was his next question in a more controlled but still very angered tone.

"Hiiragi Kureto," I spat out the name.

"Kureto-nii-san? Why would he...?" Shinya trailed off but I heard his thundering heartbeat in his chest. "Vivi-chan, is it my fault? Did Kureto ever mention me? He's my adoptive brother, the one I've vaguely mentioned in some of our conversations."

I tried to remember the few instances I had seen Evil Eyebrows. "No, he never mentioned you. Why would you think that it's your fault that I became a test subject?"

"...Shortly before the apocalypse I openly rebelled against the Hiiragi family, who had adopted me, and then I failed them when I was unable to prevent the end of the world. Maybe he did all of that to you to punish _me._ " Shinya sounded hollow, hurting enough to make me risk a glance around the corner of the bookshelf.

He ran his hand over his face and hair. Shinya was trembling with emotion, which was very unlike him. He was always calm and composed in any situation.

And what was this about preventing the apocalypse? Had he known that it would be triggered somehow?

"Don't blame yourself, Shinya," I tried to soothe him. "I was just at the wrong place at the wrong time. That bastard would have used me as a test subject anyway. It's not your fault."

He looked sharply into my direction, so I immediately retreated behind the shelf and into the shadows again, feeling like an idiot while I was doing so. I wanted nothing more than to be by Shinya's side and give him a hug, but he would recognize my uniform even before he saw my changed features.

"How are you, Vivian? Truly?" Shinya asked me tiredly but softly.

That question was harder to answer than I thought. "I'm... as well as I can be in my situation."

"And what is your 'situation'? Are you still hurt or unwell, Vivi-chan? Why do you continue to hide?" he questioned. "...Can't you stand to face me anymore after what my adoptive brother did to you?"

How did he come up with that crappy conclusion? "No, I told you it's because _you_ won't like _me_ anymore if you face me. I'm a..."

Goddammit, the word just wouldn't come out!

"I-I was really sick because of what they did to me," I said instead. "I was very ill and almost died. No, I _would_ have died if I hadn't been... _saved_ in a way."

I took another deep breath and exhaled before I continued and walked languidly down the aisle while I was telling my story.

"I... had a choice to make, a very difficult choice, Shinya-nii. There was only one way to survive. Only one way that would enable me to see you, Mako-chan and Shū again, only one way to take my petty revenge on the Japanese Imperial Demon Army."

Shinya was still on the other side of the bookshelf but followed my voice like a sailor a siren's call. My footsteps were unnaturally silent compared to his.

"I survived that hell for four years only because I had hope that I would see you again if I just held on for long enough. When I finally escaped, I was already deathly sick. But... I didn't want to part with this world, didn't want give you up, _couldn't_ , not after everything I've endured..." I trailed off as I stopped in a small patch of sunlight in front of a window at the end of the aisle.

"What are you trying to say?" Shinya whispered, clearly distraught over my story and possibly coming to the right conclusion.

I pushed back the hood and brushed out my hair with my fingers, opening the intertwined braids and removing the scrunchie I'd re-tied earlier. My long, slightly wavy hair fell down over the cloak and covered my pointed ears. Not that it would make the truth less of a blow for Shinya, but it made me a little more comfortable.

Shinya drew in a sharp breath once he stepped around the corner, in my aisle, and saw me standing there in the light of day with my back to him. His footsteps faltered and his heart made a jump.

In the reflection of the window I saw how he materialized his rifle out of thin air and pointed it at me. I remained still as a statue.

"Vivian... is that you?"

I clutched my fist to my chest as if it could help to shield me against the heartache. My unbeating heart felt as if it was overflowing with anguish and fear.

It was fear of Shinya's rejection, not fear for my life.

"Yes," I whispered, almost choking on the word. My sight was becoming blurry.

He took one step, two steps forward, then Shinya asked me quietly, "Why...? Why are you wearing _that_ uniform?"

I knew denial when I heard it. "You know why, Shinya," I said in a teary voice, feeling the first drops roll down my cheeks. "In order to survive and see you again, I had to give up... something very precious."

My humanity.

The reflection of my friend's face twisted in emotional pain and despair. "Vivi-chan..." His voice was raw when he said my name.

A sniffle escaped me. "Are you going to shoot at me again _?_ "

* * *

 **A/N:** *Hides under bed* Sorry I cut the chapter there, but it would have gotten too long otherwise. I'll do my best to upload the next chapter as soon as possible. Leave me a comment to tell me what you think about the chapter :D I'd love to hear your thoughts since it took me so many rewrites before I was satisfied with it.

Stay safe in the meantime :) and don't do stupid things like Corona parties! I can't believe people actually do that... *insert massive facepalm*

 **Edit/** **Shameless self-promoting:** If you're stuck at home and bored, you can go to my profile and check out my other stories for the **Vampire Knight** and **Diabolik Lovers** fandom :D


	20. What Really Matters

********Disclaimer** :****** I don't own Owari no Seraph, its plot or characters, or any other mentioned books, songs, or series. They belong to their respective owners. I only own my OCs and the plot that deviates from canon or doesn't exist in canon. This is a non-profit fan fiction just for fun.

* * *

 _ **To P1anoman2019:**_ Glad you enjoyed the tension! Oh, in a dark corner of his mind Shinya did consider the possibility, but thought it was too absurd to be true. In canon it's pretty rare that someone gets turned into a vampire (Mika is the first newborn vampire in one hundred years as far as the Demon Army knows), so that played a part in it, too. Anyway, this chapter is mostly from Shinya's perspective, so we'll see more of his thought process in it.

 _ **To SpiceyFez:**_ I'm happy to hear that! Thanks, you too!

 ** _To NguyetMieu:_** Yeah, but I swear there is a reason for that! I wanted to include Shinya's perspective, too, so I had to cut it there because there would have been no end to the chapter otherwise. Yep, here in Germany some teens were dumb enough to throw corona parties since there is no school at the moment (and you can legally buy beer at age 16). I'm doing well because I can work from home and am an introvert who doesn't go out much anyway, but I understand the struggle with dry hands. Even before the corona virus became a thing I was somewhat of a germaphobe and washed my hands a lot, so I always have hand cream nearby xD

I love the Guren squad, too. I hope I did them some justice. You'll see more of them and their shenanigans in the future. Ah, yes, I admit the hair strand thing was a little weird, so let me explain Shinya's thoughts. Since blonde hair is not really common in Japan and even less common after the apocalypse and he was also in the area of Vivian's former home and thinking of his friend at the time, Shinya couldn't help but make that connection. And Shinya does indeed have a small fetish for Vivian's hair xD More of that in this chapter!

 _ **To BingeBoi:**_ Haha, as Shinya said before, I live to please xD. I'm glad I could provide you with some entertainment in these difficult times.

 _ **To my guest reviewer from Mar 26:**_ Oo Maybe? Yeah, Shinya figured it out, but still summoned Byakkomaru because that's what his instincts tell him to do when he's faced with a vampire, and he also wasn't thinking clearly after realising that his friend had been turned into a vampire.

 ** _To Kiur:_** Hey :) Thank you, my family and I are all doing well so far, I hope you and your family are okay, too. Haha, yeah the cliffhanger was mean, but there'll be no more evil cliffhangers like in the previous two chapters in the next few chapters as far as I remember. Sorry for teasing you, but that point really seemed like the best to end the chapter because I was planning to include Shinya's POV :D

Yeah, the hair strand bit was indeed creepy xD It made me laugh when I wrote about it. And Shinya is definitely developing a guilt complex. I'm torn between liking and hating Guren, since I also hate how he manipulates people. Read and find out about Shinya's reaction and whether Shinya and Vivian's friendship still has a chance.

 _ **To Charlotte M. Baldonado:**_ Here is more :D

 _ **To RokenDarkly:**_ I'm glad to hear that! Sorry about the cliffhanger, have an extra long Shinya POV and chapter as compensation :)

 ** _To my guest reviewer from Apr 3:_** Thanks! I'm happy that you like _Where The Flowers Bloom_ , too, but please don't ask me for an update for it in a review for a different story. As it is written on my profile, the updates for all of my stories are sporadic. At the moment I'm more focused on _Between Two Worlds_ and _Heimat ist kein Ort_ since that is what my muse decided. There'll be an update for _WTFB_ when **I** am ready for it. I can't force myself to write a chapter if I don't have the inspiration for it. I hope you understand.

 **A/N:** Something HORRIBLE happened when I was working on this chapter... My laptop crashed *insert unholy screech from the depths of hell* and the open office file I was working on (it contained this chapter and the next ten chapters) was corrupted, leaving me with nothing but a 7 page long document containing nothing but #######. No recovery options worked... (Un)luckily, it happened to me before, so I've become very paranoid and always have a copy of my stories in my onedrive folder, so the content wasn't completely lost.

However, several days of work on this chapter and the next was lost despite saving it every ten to fifteen minutes, and with autosave and the safety copy option on (T_T). I corrected and changed so many things... and had to do everything AGAIN. I think it's time I look for a new computer even though I absolutely hate shopping for computers/laptops. They are sooo expensive and I resent having to inform myself about every little detail so I don't buy garbage :( Sorry for the rant, but I needed to let out my frustration.

Anyway, there are a lot of spoilers for Shinya's past and childhood (taken right from the light novels, so it's going to be dark) in this chapter since more than half of it is from Shinya's perspective. I think all of us have been anticipating this chapter and the reunion of friends for a while... I hope it lives up to your expectations!

* * *

 **Chapter 20 – What Really Matters**

Shinya's face contorted in shock when he realised what Vivian was referring to. " _That_... that was you earlier, wasn't it? I... I almost..." His grip on his weapon faltered.

He'd almost exterminated Vivian without even being aware of it.

As if her being turned into a vampire wasn't bad enough, no, he'd gone and almost killed the girl unwittingly.

The girl he'd wanted to save the world for. The girl who'd given him a goal and reason to live long before he met Guren and the others. The girl who'd given him a glimpse of a normal life and that had laughed, cared for and quarrelled with him.

After Shinya had been sold by his parents to the Hiiragi Clan at age five, he was forced to fight other boys his age while growing up. He never told Vivian details about his past, never told her that he'd had to compete against other boys in countless subjects and death matches, and that he was only alive because he'd killed all of his rivals.

The only thing that had mattered back then was to become strong enough to deserve the Hiiragi name.

At the beginning, he'd befriended some of those boys, but because Shinya had ended up losing them again and again, he gave up making friends. It had been too painful to see them die.

At some point he'd become completely emotionally detached from the deaths of the other boys and felt nothing anymore when he killed an opponent. He'd stopped feeling altogether and stayed unattached to anyone and anything.

Vivian had been the first friend Shinya made after he'd earned his place in the Hiiragi family at age ten and got betrothed to Mahiru, the heiress of the Hiiragi clan.

The death matches had been part of the selection process to find the best and strongest sperm donor for Mahiru, to ensure that the next generation of Hiiragi would be strong. That had been his sole reason for being. Shinya himself would never become the head of the Hiiragi Clan himself, because he was just some filthy foster child.

But just as soon as he'd earned that place and found his purpose, had survived all of the hardships and ordeals, he lost it again when he met his fiancé Mahiru. Even at age ten she'd already been in love with Guren and had had no interest in Shinya.

At that first meeting with Mahiru Shinya made the deal with her that he'd be her cover-up fiancé until she could be with Guren, the person she loved. Shinya had had no choice but to accept it. If she'd openly stated to her family that she didn't want Shinya, he would have been disposed of right away.

He hadn't been able to understand Mahiru at first, and was a little jealous of Guren and the affection Mahiru felt towards him even though Shinya didn't even know him at that time. Shinya had wondered whether he should try to make Mahiru fall in love with him somehow although he had no idea what it meant to love someone and didn't really care about making her his.

Shinya had made meeting Guren a goal, because he was the rival for his fiancé, and had wanted to meet the guy who was capable of winning Mahiru's love. He'd figured that if he could meet him, it might help Shinya to find a new goal in life, a new raison d'être.

It turned out that Shinya found it years before he got to know Guren.

Shortly after he had met Mahiru for the first time, Shinya encountered Vivian. He met her when Mahiru and him pretended to go out and have a date together in the park while they were going their separate ways in reality.

Now he knew that Mahiru had probably used the time to contact the Brotherhood of a Thousand Nights, the Hyakuya Sect, but he hadn't been aware of it back then and had assumed that she was visiting Guren in secret.

No one had suspected that she'd joined the Hyakuya Sect and had betrayed the Hiiragi Clan and the Order of Imperial Demons until it was too late.

When he was relaxing up in a tree in the park, Shinya spotted Vivian and watched her while she was going through the kendō kata, liking how her golden hair glinted in the sunlight.

Her skills hadn't been anywhere near Mahiru's or his own level, but the _way_ how she performed her movements, full of joy and cheerfulness, had fascinated him.

Shinya had never seen someone enjoy practising kendō like that until then.

For him and the other boys he'd competed with kendō had just been a means to an end. They used swords to kill each other in their matches and not to have fun with. And yet this girl made wielding a weapon – though it was only a wooden sword – look like an enjoyable pastime.

He'd been surprised that she'd spotted him up in the tree, and had found himself even more surprised when Vivian saw through his happy facade and fake smile right away and tried to cheer him up even though she didn't even know him at that time.

Her dark eyes had flashed with intelligence beyond her years and spirit. They had reminded Shinya of Mahiru's in a way, but they'd also held a warmth that Mahiru's eyes never had whenever she looked at Shinya. Vivian had intrigued Shinya from their very first meeting.

It was just a little later that he found out that his new friend had talents other than fighting. It seemed like magic to him how Vivian played the piano and created her own pieces of music, that came straight from her heart, even though Shinya could cast magic spells for real. He'd never learned how to play an instrument since the Hiiragi family didn't care for such seemingly useless skills.

From then on Shinya had spent the time he was purportedly out with Mahiru with Vivian instead, and to this day Shinya didn't regret any of it. His short stays at her home, the time they spent together, were like a breath of fresh air that freed him from the pressure of expectation and the prevailing gloominess that awaited him in the Hiiragi household.

He didn't have to behave submissively around his friend, didn't have to be constantly on his toes and worry about his every word, and was accepted exactly the way he was. Was even liked for it.

Vivian's parents as well had treated him better than his own parents, who'd sold him to the Hiiragi Clan to increase their social standing in the Order of Imperial Demons, ever had. They had treated him like their own son.

Shinya felt treasured and valued in Vivian's presence, unlike when he was in his physical home, where he was just a means to an end that was barely worth breathing the same air as the Hiiragi.

It was something he'd never experienced before. It was exhilarating.

His friend listened to him and cared for him, not because of his new family name, like the other followers of the Order of Imperial Demons did, but because she cared for _Shinya_ and Shinya alone _,_ his health and happiness.

Vivian had shown him that there was more to life than what he'd grown up to know and believe, and had pampered him with her unconditional affection. She was the only one to do so without an ulterior motive or out of a sense of loyalty for the Hiiragi Clan.

Being around her made him feel as if he was in a whole new world. A better world.

Before Shinya even realised it, he had gotten attached to the younger girl. He who usually stayed aloof, unattached from everything and everyone in order to survive had gotten attached to someone again.

When faced with the prospect of losing his life, Shinya felt nothing, he didn't feel anything when he took lives either, and didn't really feel anything when Mahiru rejected him.

Why should he make the effort to acquire a thing if he still lost it in the end? It made the effort meaningless. That was what he believed.

And yet...

Somehow, Vivian had wiggled her way into the cold, dead thing that was his heart. She had seen through the facade that hid how empty he was inside and had found or seen something in him that she liked.

Maybe Shinya should have stayed away from her once he realised that he had gotten attached to her, because he knew that he would only end up losing her again, like he had lost everyone and everything that had ever been important to him.

Maybe Shinya shouldn't have gotten involved with Vivian, for his own sake and, more importantly, for hers. He didn't belong to her world. He was too damaged, too callous, too dark, and yet he couldn't stay away from her for too long.

He knew that he was being stupid, which wasn't how he had survived all these years, but he couldn't help it.

Shinya was drawn to Vivian like a moth to a flame.

And his friend burned brightly and was so full of passion. Passion for her music, passion for her friends, passion for life. She lived her life to the fullest and was so very unlike Shinya that he couldn't help but keep gazing her.

He didn't know when exactly his feelings for her had changed from fascination and mild idolisation to something... different. One day that was like any other – he was around fourteen at the time – Vivian had smiled at him like usual from the seat in front of her piano and he had an epiphany when thinking how glad he was to have met her.

It made Shinya contemplate his feelings for her. It was then that he realised that the word 'friendship' wasn't enough to describe what he was feeling for her anymore, hadn't been for a while. And that his feelings for and attachment to Vivian were different from what he'd felt for the boys he'd befriended all those years ago and ran a lot deeper.

Mahiru, sharp as she was, had noticed the slight change in him that was caused by the exposure to Vivian and was the only one of the Hiiragi who'd realised that Shinya had fallen in love with someone he wasn't supposed to love.

It was through this conversation with Mahiru that Shinya realised what exactly he was feeling for Vivian. Mahiru had mocked Shinya for his feelings of affection, just like he'd previously mocked her for her feelings for Guren and for being a lovestruck little girl.

She had doubted that Shinya was even capable of loving someone and getting attached to someone. He had thought the same until then. Then Mahiru had said that it was quite alright and that it didn't matter to her if he loved someone else as long as Shinya continued to keep up the deal they had made years before.

Shinya now wondered whether she'd betrayed him and told Kureto about Vivian in the end. After all, Mahiru had betrayed _everyone_. She'd not only betrayed the Order of the Imperial Demons and the Hiiragi Clan when she joined the Hyakuya Sect but also Guren and the whole world when she triggered the apocalypse for unknown reasons.

Why had she even warned Guren and the others that the world would end on the 25th December in the first place? To this day Shinya wondered if it had all been a game to her or if she had been mocking them.

Shinya and his friends had tried to capture Mahiru and had openly rebelled against the Hiiragi Clan and the Order of the Imperial Demons in order to do so. When they were on the run and crashed at a hotel to hide from the soldiers that were hunting them down, Guren had asked Shinya why he was doing all of this.

Shinya didn't feel particularly loyal to the Hiiragi Clan and didn't have much of a thirst for vengeance. His plans to overthrow or change the Hiiragi Clan were half-baked and half-assed. He'd realised that it was an almost impossible task. He was glad that Vivian believed in him, though.

So why did Shinya follow Guren, who had no idea how exactly they could prevent the end of the world, and betray the Hiiragi Clan, which was madness in itself?

" _For Vivian, the blonde girl you've seen in a picture before," Shinya answered Guren._

" _Seriously? You're betraying the Hiiragi Clan and are trying to save the world for a girl? I wouldn't have pegged you as a romantic," Guren said._

 _Shinya grinned. "Maybe I want to try being a hero once? Heroes always get the girl after all. And should **you** really be saying that? You're still chasing after Mahiru like a lovesick dog even if she's already a lost cause."_

Shinya himself didn't care much for the world, but he'd tried to save it for Vivian.

And he'd failed. Of course he did. It had been an impossible task from the beginning and Shinya hadn't been very optimistic about it to start with either. Mahiru was nothing but determined, cunning and a perfectionist, and had always been a step ahead of them.

As a consequence of his failure, less than a tenth of the human population had survived; children the age of thirteen and below and people that were mixed with demons. Vivian's parents and most of her friends had died, some of them right in front of her eyes because he'd failed.

Vivian had been captured and experimented on. Shinya was at least partially to blame for that even if she herself didn't blame him for it. And according to her she would have died if she hadn't been turned into a vampire.

She'd chosen to become a creature that craved for blood because she had no other choice if she wanted to survive. Because the experiments had made her sick. Thinking about this made him furious like nothing else did and feel like an utter failure at the same time.

Once again Shinya hadn't been there for Vivian when she needed him.

Why hadn't he noticed that she'd been right in front of his nose in Shibuya, in some research facility of the Hiiragi family? Had Kureto truly ordered the experiments on Vivian because he knew who she was and he wanted to punish Shinya for his insubordination?

No matter what the reason was, Vivian had been subjected to human experimentation and had been suffering for four years while Shinya had been searching for her in the wrong places. Shinya doubted that he could ever forgive himself for not finding her sooner, even if his friend didn't blame him for it.

It was too late to help her now.

She'd given up her humanity.

The passionate, playful and bright girl he'd fallen for had become a vampire and he'd almost killed her because of it.

Vivian would have died if she hadn't deflected his shots in time. Her blood would have been on his hands.

Shinya had almost erased what he cherished most in this world. With his own hands. The thought sickened him even though he normally didn't have any qualms about killing someone.

The question was, why did Vivian even come to Shinjuku and observe her old apartment and the surrounding area? Was it truly because she wanted to see him again that much? Did she still care for Shinya, even as a vampire?

All the signs, the contents of her letter, her actions and words painted a very clear picture.

Even now she was crying, was emotionally overwhelmed by the situation and was behaving unlike any vampire he had ever seen, apart from Mahiru. But Mahiru was a whole other case. You could never be sure with her if her tears were real or part of her plans.

Vivian, however, had always worn her emotions on her sleeve. Nonetheless, Shinya needed to know for sure if she was still herself before he decided how to proceed with her.

If there was still hope.

Even if there wasn't, Shinya doubted that he could ever give up on Vivian.

"You were here a few weeks ago, too," he finally said.

Vivian nodded and moved her arm in a motion that told him even with her back to him that she was brushing a few tears away. "If I'm able to, I take every Friday off to search for you."

"Why?"

Somehow his question and demanding tone cut deep enough to make Vivian flinch. It didn't escape Shinya's notice.

"Am I not allowed to care for my friends anymore because I've turned into... a bloodsucking monster?" she asked softly, sounding hurt and full of self-loathing.

Shinya internally grimaced. Ah, she'd guessed in which direction his thoughts had drifted. Still, her reaction and words told him a lot in combination with everything else he'd gathered so far.

Vivian still seemed to be pretty much like her human self. She still cared deeply for Shinya and her younger friends. Perhaps too deeply if she'd willingly given up her humanity to see them again. But he couldn't fault her for that; her loyalty and attachment to her friends was one of the things he liked about her. And after everything she'd been through...

Her health and her life had been stolen from her just after she'd seen her friends die. Then someone had offered her a chance to live when she was on the verge of death, a chance to see her few living friends again, that had been the reason why she fought and survived for so long.

Oh yes, he could understand her motives and why she'd agree to become a vampire with that background, mentality, and her personality.

Vivian would never give up her friends or a fight. She'd always valued her friends more than anything else. She was a lot like Guren in that regard. Once, he'd almost become a demon in order to save his friends.

That didn't mean that Shinya liked it. He learned from Vivian's question just now that she wasn't comfortable with her new life – or undead? – situation either, hated herself for it to a point. She was ashamed of herself and self-conscious, just like he had guessed in jest earlier.

It was one of the reasons why she'd hid from his sight and was even now, when Shinya was aware that Vivian was a vampire, showing him her back.

It also told him that she trusted him with her life. He was still pointing his cursed gear at her and at this distance she might not be able to dodge in time.

Vivian was afraid of his rejection and afraid that Shinya would hate her for what she had become, had _chosen_ to become in order to achieve her goals.

"Do you see yourself as that, Vivi-chan? A monster?" Shinya asked her quietly.

Vivian began to tremble and Shinya immediately regretted asking his question, that only seemed to make her cry even more.

These quiet sniffles... He hated it when she cried. The answer to his question was pretty obvious.

Shinya put a hand on his temples. What was he supposed to do now? Treat Vivian like he usually would and give her a hug? Or would that make her uncomfortable now?

Hmm... but she'd said earlier that she wanted to hug him, which meant that Vivian was most likely refraining from doing so because she thought that it would make _Shinya_ uncomfortable. Or was there another reason for it?

Shinya suddenly remembered a conversation he'd hat with Guren once. About two years ago he'd asked him why Guren had still loved Mahiru even when she became a demon and then a vampire. Guren had asked him in return whether Shinya liked Vivian because she was a human or because she was _Vivian_.

Now he could understand Guren and what he'd meant even though it was kind of crazy.

In the back of his mind his demon, Byakkomaru, asked him to rethink the decision he'd made in regards to Vivian and be clever like always. That was how Shinya survived. But when it came to Vivian, his reason seemed to get thrown out of the window sometimes.

Shinya was forever thankful that his friend wasn't _dead_ dead but at the same time very concerned for her. He didn't want her to be a vampire, didn't want her to be suffering this fate.

Vivian would never experience a human life again because it had been stolen from her. At age... seventeen. She was just seventeen when her life ended.

If the apocalypse had never happened, she'd probably be attending university now, study music, play the piano and meet her friends. That perfectly normal life was what she deserved, but now, in this kind of world...

"Do you... hate me now?" Vivian asked him shakily.

Oh dear. Shinya let out a long sigh and finally let Byakkomaru vanish despite the demon's protests. There was no point in pointing the weapon at her. She clearly wasn't going to attack him and Shinya didn't want to shoot at her again, doubted that he could. He'd summoned Byakkomaru more out of reflex when he saw the uniform than a real intention to use him anyway.

And he'd made a promise to Vivian's father when he was sixteen.

"Well, I can't say that I'm happy that you're a vampire, but no, I don't hate you, Vivi-chan. I'm... very grateful that you survived and returned to me. By whatever means necessary."

Shinya's feelings for her didn't just disappear after learning about her new bodily condition. And if he hated anyone, then it was the people who had put her into a position where she had to discard her humanity in order to live.

"Shinya..." Vivian sounded hopeful, but then she shook her head. "Wait, before you decide whether you want to give our friendship another chance, you have to know some things about me... I did some bad things." She made a short pause before she continued, "I... I've killed humans. One of the researchers in that facility and some soldiers from the Demon Army. I also hurt civilians... _children_ by... by drinking their blood," she confessed, as if she was trying to ask for absolution for her sins.

Vivian sounded ashamed when she said that last part.

His heart sank at her confession, but more out of concern for her and dismay that Vivian had blood on her hands now like him and had to hurt others, especially children that she'd always had a soft spot for, to survive than anything else. He wished Vivian had never had to experience something like that and stain her hands quite literally with blood.

She'd cherished life so much. Vivian should be just a normal human, a normal girl. That suited her best.

"I'm sorry that you had to that, Vivi-chan." If only he'd found her in that lab, Shinya could have prevented all of this.

"I'm not," she whispered. "I didn't feel a thing when I took the lives of those soldiers and that researcher."

It pained him to hear that avowal from Vivian of all people, but he knew perfectly well what it was like. "What about the children... the civilians?"

"I didn't _want_ to hurt them... well, apart from those bullies in Sanguinem. The normal civilians are victims in this whole apocalypse affair, too."

Ah, _that_ sounded like his friend. "You beat up some bullies again?" Shinya was suddenly amused. "I bet they pissed their pants."

"Could be. But I went easy on them and just intimidated them a little to prevent that they would attack any of the other kids again."

Shinya smiled in relief as he heard that. "You're such a mother hen, Vivi-chan~."

"I'm not," she protested lightly. "So... what do you think, Shinya? Can we still be friends or... am I a monster in your eyes?" Vivian asked uncertainly.

It didn't take him long to answer. "Of course we're still friends. If you're a monster, then I'm a monster, too, because I've killed a lot of people without remorse as well."

Shinya was certain that he'd killed a lot more people than Vivian had in the few months she'd been a vampire. Not that the count mattered. He wouldn't even know it anymore, nor did he really care. Shinya had lost count long before he'd even met Vivian.

"You... you did?" Vivian sounded shocked, as if she had believed that he could never do something like nonchalantly taking a life. "I mean you obviously kill vampires but... _humans_ , too?"

It was ironic that out of the two of them the human had killed more humans than the vampire. He'd never told Vivian what he had to do in his early childhood to be adopted into the Hiiragi clan, in high school, or shortly before the apocalypse when he betrayed the Hiiragi Clan.

Vivian hadn't known any details about his life in the Order of Imperial Demons or the Hiiragi Clan for her own good, and because Shinya had feared that he would lose her if he told her what he'd done in order to survive.

He'd feared that she wouldn't understand him this time and that he would lose her if she learned what an empty human wreck he was behind his facade.

Vivian had only ever seen a part of Shinya's true self.

Normal people wouldn't know or understand what it was like to grow up in a magical syndicate or in the family leading it. Now, however, the whole situation had changed, Vivian had changed even if Shinya would have preferred that she didn't.

"Yeah, I've killed humans. There's a reason why I've never told you any details about my past, Vivi-chan. It wasn't very pretty."

"Details about your _past_... but you were just a kid back then?!" Vivian sounded completely incredulous now.

"The Order of the Imperial Demons, the Hiiragi Clan, demanded it of me, so I... fought and killed other boys my age in order to survive."

It was quiet for a moment. "You once told me that you had to pass harsh tests before you were adopted... And that was one of the tests? A sick sort of battle royale?"

"Well, if you want to call it that..." He couldn't sugar-coat it.

"And I let you return to them...! Those... those complete and utter bastards! How could they do this to you?!" his friend growled. "And I thought they only _experimented_ on children and that it couldn't get any worse... Hah!"

Shinya could feel the anger and deep hatred radiating off of her. These emotions were so unlike Vivian but understandable after what she'd been through. He was kind of relieved and impressed about the fact that Vivian could still become enraged like this on his behalf, even as a vampire, a creature that was famed for having no emotions.

Vivian was still Vivian, despite all the changes, and would always be.

"...Do you want to talk about it, about your past, Shinya?"

There was no judgement in Vivian's tone, just concern for him, like always. Shinya was sure that his friend would have reacted differently if the world hadn't come to an end and if she she were still a human, but not now.

Not after what she'd experienced.

They might be able to understand each other better than ever now, even after being apart for more than four years and changing species. It was a blessing and a curse at the same time.

Shinya slowly closed the distance between them. "I will tell you everything you want to know about me, Vivian," he assured her. "But perhaps not now. I'd rather focus on you today."

"...If that's what you want," Vivian agreed reluctantly.

It seemed as if she would have preferred to hear more about him and his past. Shinya wondered whether she would still accept him as her friend after he'd told her all about his past. No matter what, she deserved to hear it one day. She'd been honest with him, too, and had approached him even though she'd been scared that he might reject her.

The young Major General stopped right behind Vivian, in the sunlight that shone through the window, and carefully placed a hand on her shoulder, or where he estimated it to be underneath the white cloak. Vivian was quite tall for a woman, like her mother Irina had been, and was only about ten centimetres shorter than him.

At first, she tensed under his unexpected touch but relaxed quickly. Shinya tugged lightly at her shoulder, which was immovable for a moment, but then Vivian let him turn her around. Her long hair glinted golden in the light, which made him want to touch it without his gloves. He'd always liked it because it fit her so well.

Shinya came face to face with... an illustration of two guys making out with each other. The girl was holding up a manga in front of her face to block his view of it. She must have fetched it from one of the shelves at some point.

"Vivi-chan~, as nice as yaoi manga are, I'd prefer to see your face and not a steamy kiss scene."

"..."

She let out a sigh and slowly lowered the manga, making Shinya's heart beat a little faster in anticipation though he also mentally prepared himself that she would not look the same as before anymore.

Vivian had immaculate, pale white skin, that was lighter than when he'd last seen her, and the freckles he'd liked were gone. Her pale skin set off her soft pink lips and made the faint blush on her cheeks more noticeable. Her features had matured, but her blonde hair framed her face like he was used to, as did the fringe that was parted on the side.

Vivian's eyes, however, were a stark contrast to what Shinya was used to. They were unusually bright, the colour of freshly spilled blood, and the pupils were slitted like a cat's. They were the typical vampire eyes, and were probably one of the main reasons why she'd been so reluctant to speak face to face with him.

Still, her eyes weren't cold and empty like those of the vampires he'd met and slain so far, but warm and full of emotion like usual. They were brimming with tears, that also clung to Vivian's lashes and had left wet trails on her cheeks.

Shinya could see the uncertainty and hesitance in them as Vivian shied away from his gaze, but also the affection for him and... joy. His friend was truly happy to see him again.

She was alluring in a not quite human kind of way, but despite the physical differences, Vivian gave him the same warm look as always.

She kept glancing at the manga shelves as well, as if she'd only noticed just now that they were there. That was entirely possible. Vivian had most likely been too distracted to realise where exactly they were.

Seeing that she still had a passion for manga gave Shinya delight. "Heh~. And here I thought you wanted to see _me,_ Vivi-chan. Are the manga more interesting than me?" he joked.

"Making me choose between you and manga is cruel, Shinya-nii," Vivian easily joked back, seeming relieved that he didn't comment on her changed appearance. They both knew manga were not the reason why she was here or still alive.

When her lips parted and she spoke, Shinya could see two fangs peeking out between them, which led him to his next question.

"Vivi-chan... is it okay if I hug you, or would that bother you? Are you... in control?"

He didn't know exactly how strong the desire for blood was on a normal basis, just that vampires usually lost their reason sooner or later when blood was spilled in front of them, and that they could only go a few days without it before their thirst became overwhelming.

Vivian's eyes widened. "Oh, you mean..." She left the sentence unfinished and looked at the ground. "Yes, I can control... myself."

"That's good to know," Shinya said with a grin, closed the remaining distance between them and embraced Vivian.

In the back of his mind Byakkomaru growled in disapproval even though the demon was strengthened by the action since Shinya gave in to one of his desires.

Vivian was a little tense at first, but then she melted into his embrace, bringing her arms around his middle and placing her head in the crook of his neck, that was covered by his uniform.

Shinya felt how she clutched the uniform at his back. Her arms around him were a little too tight for comfort but he wasn't going to complain.

Vivian was a perfect fit in his arms and he couldn't help but notice... "You've become more womanly in the past few years, Vivi-chan~."

Shinya was just a man, too. He also liked to tease her and this sort of comment always bothered her the most.

"Don't ruin the moment and a perfectly good hug with your perverted comments!" she chastised him.

"Aww~, but that was an honest compliment."

Shinya could not only feel her bosom press against his chest but also noticed her lack of body heat, which was kind of strange. Despite this, their body contact still made him feel warm.

His friend didn't deign him an answer and simply relished the hug. "I've really missed you, Shinya..." she mumbled.

"I've missed you, too." Shinya held her a little tighter, not wanting to let go of her again.

* * *

I was overjoyed that Shinya seemed to have accepted me as I was, and that he was here with me. He even went so far as to hug me!

It was a sweet agony to be this close to him.

On the one hand my heart was overflowing with happiness, but on the other hand I was craving Shinya's blood, that luscious red nectar his heart was pumping through his body at a fast pace.

His heartbeat was louder than before at this proximity and with my ear pressed against the crook of Shinya's neck. It was a delicious sound and my friend smelt incredibly enticing... I instinctively knew that sucking his blood would grant me immense pleasure.

But I also knew that I would never forgive myself if I hurt Shinya because of these monstrous instincts.

No pleasure in this world was worth my friend's life.

"For how much longer are we going to stay like this?" Shinya inquired while he was stroking my hair in a soothing motion.

"Forever," I sighed in emotional bliss with my eyes closed and wishing that he'd never stop, although resisting the thirst was becoming increasingly painful. "I'm Shinya-deprived."

My friend chuckled. "Heeh~? Is that so? I'd love to stay with you like this for a while longer, but, unfortunately, we can't do that, Vivi-chan. My friends might think that something happened to me."

Right, I almost forgot that they were waiting for him outside. "...Just a little longer?"

"Hmm... One more minute."

However, it seemed that we had underestimated his friends. Because they were already worried enough to check on him. My only excuse for not noticing the attack sooner was that I had my whole attention on Shinya and on keeping my urge to drink his blood at bay.

I let go of him and broke out of his hold before I drew my sword and turned around to the side to deflect the weapons that came flying at us, or rather, me.

They looked like... kunai?

"Sword, drink my blood," I activated my sword, but it was too late. I only managed to deflect the second and third kunai in time.

The first one got stuck in my left shoulder. The pain barely registered before I sensed another attack coming while Shinya was being yanked backwards, away from me. All of this happened in a matter of seconds.

"Shit!" my friend cursed. "Vivian!

At the same time the scenery around me changed to some kind of fiery cave, or the interior of a volcano, while my first-class sword clashed with a black katana. It belonged to Guren, who was looking at me with narrowed eyes. He clenched his teeth as I added more power to my push, and his arms quivered in the effort to keep up his sword.

"Damn," he smirked, his purple-coloured eyes glinting as he struggled. "You're strong."

"Or maybe you're just weak?" I retorted, not in the mood for a fight.

He was admittedly quite strong for a human, stronger than a normal city guard even, but that was it. Guren was nowhere close to Niall's level.

"Stop! Don't attack her! That's Vivian!" Shinya yelled while I was still blocking Guren – there wasn't enough space here to swing a sword around without damaging anything and hurting Shinya or his friends in the process.

The volcanic scenery around me was probably just an illusion, but the magma around my feet felt quite real and hot. It actually hurt even though I knew that it was just in my head. I didn't let it distract me from my opponent, though.

Opponents.

A red-haired girl had already run past Shinya in the narrow aisle and was aiming a punch at me when my friend informed his squad of who I was.

"Stay away, Mito!" Guren's warning for her that came almost simultaneously to Shinya's was too late, too.

The gloves she was wearing were strange and gave off a slight glow. They had to be her demon weapon, which meant that I couldn't afford to get punched by her. But I was holding my sword in my right hand, which was the exact side she was coming at me from.

What to do...?

Shifting my weight onto my left leg, I kicked her swiftly but as careful as I could in her stomach with my right boot, which sent the redhead flying back the aisle and into Shinya's and the brown-haired girl's arms before she could punch me. Her movements had been very sophisticated but rather slow.

"Gah!" the redhead spat out a little blood on impact.

I hoped that she had just bitten her lip or tongue and that I didn't damage some of her internal organs or bones with my kick. Shinya would most likely not appreciate that.

"What?!" someone, an unknown male judging from the deep voice, exclaimed as Shinya's words finally registered.

"Lord Shinya, is that true?" Sayuri asked him, looking at me with large eyes as she helped the redhead to sit up.

"That's right. That is Vivi-chan," Shinya's gaze travelled from the downed redhead over to me.

"Shit, that vampire is her?" the unknown guy of the group cursed from somewhere.

I felt rather uncomfortable because of the way he'd said vampire. I was also a little peeved that they had interrupted Shinya and me and our glorious reunion-hug.

"...I'd appreciate it if you stopped this annoying illusion. I don't enjoy feeling like my feet and legs are on fire," I stated in a mildly irritated tone to overplay my discomfort.

"Uhhh...?"

"Do it, Goshi," Shinya said. Ah, so that blond guy with the pipe that could create illusions was called Goshi.

"Alright, if you're sure..." In the next moment the illusion was gone and I was back in the book store.

Shinya approached me again after helping the injured redhead, who was cradling her stomach, into the brown-haired girl's arms. "Vivi-chan, could you please put away your sword? Guren, you as well?"

"...Fine," I agreed after a few seconds, wanting to be done with this situation and catch up with Shinya.

"She goes first," Guren told him, which made me roll my eyes and draw back my sword as I stepped next to my friend.

The swordsman watched me with hawk's eyes and only lowered his weapon when I had sheathed mine. I didn't trust him, but I trusted Shinya, who was now between Guren and me. Still, I was ready to defend my friend and myself should Guren attack us.

"Vivi-chan, you have a kunai stuck in your shoulder," Shinya pointed out.

Yes, and it burned. "Right..." I didn't want to touch the demon-possessed thing and glared at it.

The petite, dark-haired woman behind Guren spoke up. "That would be mine."

"Would you mind taking it out? It's a little uncomfortable." I was disappointed in myself that I'd been injured.

My question was met with silence. Did I say something strange? "What?" I asked Shinya.

He merely smiled at me.

"I've never met such a whiny vampire before," Guren jeered.

What? That was his problem? "Why don't you let me shove my blade through your shoulder, so we can find out who the whiny one between the two of us is?" I suggested with a sugar-sweet smile.

"I'll have shoved _my_ blade through your heart before you can even _attempt_ to do that, bloodsucker," Guren retorted and the girl with black hair changed her stance.

Shinya laughed and grabbed me by both of my shoulders from behind, trying to shove me forward. "Alriiight~! No one is going to shove a blade through anyone today. Why don't we take a seat in the seating area to talk? It feels a little cramped here between the bookshelves."

His suggestion was met with general agreement though I received many suspicious looks from his friends.

Hoo boy, this was going to be _fun_.

No matter what was going to happen, I was happy that Shinya had given our friendship, _me_ , another chance. That was the most important thing.

* * *

 **A/N:** I hope I didn't go overboard with the romance and fluff in this chapter... Shinya and Vivian are _slightly_ obsessed with each other, lol. I'm still not completely satisfied with the chapter, but yeah. Who was surprised that Shinya is as fucked up as Vivian thanks to growing up in the Order of the Imperial Demons? :D

I've used the newest manga chapters and the light novels as a reference for his reaction and thoughts, so people who have only watched the anime might be surprised after reading this chapter. Shinya is far from normal even if he might seem that way in the anime because his past is never mentioned or shown.

 **Manga spoilers ahead!**

* * *

In canon he is also pretty obsessed with Guren, enough to become a demon to save him and make Byakkomaru question him if he was in love with Guren, so I took that behaviour and made it a _tad_ worse because Vivian has known Shinya ever since he was a slightly more impressionable kid and not a teen (he was sixteen when he met and befriended Guren and Guren is kind of an asshole anyway).

* * *

 **Manga spoilers end.**

I hope that everyone stays safe and healthy and that I'll see you at the next update! Stay inside and read/write fanfictions and reviews, guys ;) (That's me asking not very subtly for reviews xD I'd like to know what you think about this chapter!)


End file.
